When Things Go Your Way
Did you ever have one of those days when things just seem to work out just fine?
Yesterday was one of those days for me.
I got moving toward the airport a little later than I intended but wasn’t too worried about it because I was confident that I’d allowed extra time in my plan, so I expected to be OK anyway.
Then I ran smack into Chicago traffic. I had given myself about an hour for the drive to O’Hare, but I really expected it would take about 40 minutes. I had no idea there would be so much traffic at 6 AM on a Tuesday morning!
I knew I wanted to fill up the tank before I turned the car back in because I didn’t want to get soaked paying the rental company $5 a gallon for a less than full tank, or some such. Fortunately on the highway I was on had an Oasis right before the airport exit so I could take care of that issue.
I was on a toll road, and that whole thing was a bit of an experience. Periodically they had toll booths on the highway and the toll each time was the nice round figure of $0.80. I’m not sure why they chose that amount. Fortunately for us out-of-towners the toll booth operators seemed to have a sufficient reservoir of dimes and nickels to give us change back from each dollar I gave them.
The trick was the booth at the O’Hare exit. There is no operator at that exit. It is cash only, exact change required. But you have to be a bit of a detective to figure out how much the toll is because the only place it tells you is a little sign on the toll collecting machine itself. It happened to be $0.80 too.
So there I was frantically searching through my pockets to see if I had enough dimes and nickels left over to pay that one. It took me a couple moments, much to the frustration of the guy behind me leaning on his horn. Oh, and there is no way to get a receipt to turn in with the expense report.
Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.
The whole drive to the airport thing made me think that the day was going to be a challenge all the way around.
But I was totally off on that score.
Even though I totally blew my time allotment on the drive, everything else went as smooth as silk. It took me only about 30 minutes to return the rental car, get the shuttle to my terminal, check in with the airline, and make it through the security checkpoint. Sha-zam!
And my flight was about 30 minutes delayed taking off so I had plenty of time.
The connection in Charlotte was perfect. I walked of of one plane, down the same concourse about 5 gates and right onto the next plane right before they closed the doors and we were off to Savannah.
My bags were among the first out on the carousel in Savannah and Gorgeous didn’t even have to pay for parking. She timed it so she just drove around to the curb and picked me up!
There is a Proverb that says
How can we understand the road we travel? It is the LORD who directs our steps.
And it is easy to feel good about the thought of God directing our steps when things are going well like they did for me yesterday. But what about when things don’t go according to our plans? What about when things seem to be falling apart?
Check out this tidbit from Psalms
If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
God’s got it under control whether we are in the middle of a raging storm or we are experiencing smooth sailing. For me that is a very comforting thought.
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6 comments
Chris -
Sorry you got slapped with the Chicago toll roads. Those things were the bane of my existence when I lived there O so many years ago. For the record, they went in in the ’50s and were only supposed to be in place until the road was paid for … Riiiiight!! There’s a reason that one of the three most common lies along with “The check is in the mail” and one that cannot be printed here is “I’m from the goevernment and I’m here to help you!”
On the the last point of your post. I went through a period where many little things just seemed to be going wrong. After a while, I started complaining to God about it. While he addressed why those things were happening and helped me with a practical, effective strategy to have more things “go my way”, He also showed me my complaints about things were not matched by an equal amount of thankfulness when things went right. So, I make a concious effort to thank God each time things go well because they could have gone a lot worse. It’s done wonders for my attitude.
Glad to hear you made it back in good health and one piece.
Blessings,
Ken
Good advice, Ken. We should probably be twice as grateful as we are grumpy. I bet it would be healthier for us too.
Hi Chris!
I’m amazed that they have a cash only toll right by the airport — the place where patience would be in the shortest supply!
I’m glad you made it home without problem!
Cuileann
Cuileann, The thing that got me was that there was no clear signage letting you know how much the toll was before you actually got right beside the booth. I could have been hunting for my change while I was in line if the big signs that said “Coins Only” had said “Cars $0.80″ as well.
But then I suppose it would be harder for them whenever they raised the toll because they would have more signs to change.
Of course I had everything organized for getting out of the rental car quickly, but the change thing kind of got me discombobulated so it took me longer than I planned to gather my stuff when I turned in the car…
But I guess that’s just part of the adventures in traveling, eh?
Chris, I’ve been to Chicago many times, and I ALWAYS forget to have sufficient change to pay that toll! I can so relate to the traveling experience in general - I’ve never been so happy when things simply happen as they were supposed to. I can’t think of another experience where that happens. Oh, and what happened at those toll booths when I didn’t have the money? Once, I actually got out of the car and scoured the area around the booth for change people had thrown at the hopper and missed (the cars behind me loved that). The other times are probably worthy of a blog post in and of themselves. Love the proverbs too Chris, thanks. All the best.
Starbucker, I wish someone had filmed you gathering the change for the toll. I think it could make a good Saturday Night Live sketch or something.
I gotta hand it to your resourcefulness. I think that was pure brilliance! It is good to remember that there usually is a way to overcome a problem if we are willing to look at it a little unconventionally.
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