New tires don’t seem like much, unless they are exactly what you need. Early in the year, our new-to-us minivan had a rattling sound and the steering wheel shook slightly when we got over 55 mph. It was annoying, but we let it go figuring that’s just how this van works. A few weeks back as we picked the five kids up from their grandparents’ house, we noticed we had a flat. It was Sunday and no tire stores were open in the little towns along the one-hour drive back home. We limped the van back home on the mini spare.
Noticing the tread was pretty low on all the tires, we checked several stores in the area for new tires. Regardless of the store, we realized quickly that four tires were not in our current budget. We settled on two and made plans to get the other two in a month or so.
At this same time, my wife was struggling with her purpose in life. Her official job is providing daycare for two little girls. With our five children home for summer vacation and these two sisters, my wife spent most of her days caring for seven kids. There were many times that tested her patience and caused her to question her abilities. Since I have known her, some 20 years now, it has been obvious to me that she was born to nurture, care and raise children. These days, though, were draining her.
As she casually explained the tire situation with the parents of the two girls she cares for, they quickly realized new tires were in their future too. “Why don’t we pool our need together,” they suggested? “If we order tires for several vehicles, maybe we can get a discount.”
They were right. Adding our needs with theirs and some other family members provided a significant discount and we could now fit this into our budget. All that was needed now was the tire type and size. As my wife provided this information to the mother of her two daycare girls and waited for the final total, my wife got the gift she needed.
“It’s all been taken care of,” the mother responded. “All you need to do is make an appointment. We’ve taken care of the expense as our gift.”
Shocked, my wife questioned why anyone would do this. The mother responded stating nothing was more important in her and her husband’s lives than their two little girls. Continuing she told my wife that nothing was more comforting every day than knowing her children were being taken care of by someone as loving and kind as my wife. In that instant, my wife knew that all the struggles were worth it. From that moment, she no longer questioned the gift, but accepted it graciously.
Leadership of a family and a business is hard work and comes with struggles. The disciples struggled with their mission and their abilities to accomplish the task. Having Jesus right there with them provided the answers. We can have Jesus right there with us anytime we are struggling too. He is our gift at all times if we just accept his leadership style graciously without question.
