The item is what I call an 'old lady cart' (I apologize for the age-ism there, but that is what we call it, and I am the old lady that uses it) - a metal basket on wheels. I told my husband I wanted one when we moved into the city, because my daughter and I could walk anywhere downtown and just fill the basket as needed rather than carry bags. So, my loving husband got me one...from a ditch near his work (he's almost as cheap as I am!).
This 'old lady cart that my husband got for me from the ditch' was in pretty good shape, just a little rust here and there and I replaced the broken wheels with ones from an old dolly stroller (pink!). I was very happy with it and planned my first outing to the grocery store for later that week. My daughter and I headed downtown with my 'old lady cart that my husband got for me from the ditch' and we were moving at a really good clip. We filled the cart with groceries and headed for home.
It was a hot day, but we only lived about 20 minutes walk from the store and with my cart to hold the bags, we expected an easy run of it. Then something happened. One of the pink wheels on my 'old lady cart that my husband got for me from the ditch' started to wobbled. Then it fell off. No problem, I just shimmied it back on and planned to fix it better at home. Six feet later, it fell off again. And, again.
We hadn't gotten more than 1/2 a block from the store and it had taken us 15 minutes already. It was getting frustrating, and did I mention that this was a HOT August day? So, there I was, with my 'old lady that my husband got for me from the ditch', pushing the wheel back on every 6 feet sweating in the HOT August day. After almost 1/2 an hour, we reached the river in the middle of town and found a shaded area to sit and contemplate my situation.
We still had a good 4 blocks to go; the wheel was not going to stay on; we had about $40 of groceries to get home; it was HOT. First thought...forget the cost and throw the whole thing in the river - solves the problem and makes me feel sooooo good! No.
Second thought...find my husband and kill him for bringing home this cart in the first place - doesn't solve the problem, but still would make me feel better. No.
Last thing on my mind...look at my lovely daughter and recognize that I have a real opportunity to lead by example in a frustrating situation - solves the problem, teaches my daughter and glorifies God. Alright...I decided on this one. I said a little prayer...pretty much, 'okay, Lord, I need you to do this for me'.
I had a multi-tool in my purse, as always, and with much care I removed two of the metal strappings that were part of the main basket and reset them on the outside of the wheel spokes. This plan was the for the purpose of holding the wheels on the spokes so that even if they did wiggle to the end, they could not fall off (for those of you old enough to remember MacGyver, that's what I felt like).
Well, it worked! The wheels did continue to wiggle to the end of the spokes, but the metal strapping that had been snapped in place held them on. My 'old lady cart that my husband got for me from the ditch' rattled and shimmied all the way home. That wasn't the most satisfying part though. My daughter smiled and talked about the success all the way home, and when I gave the credit to God for getting the job done she said, "That's what I prayed for, mommy!" Couldn't you just burst!
So, whose watching you? Sometimes, we never know.
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit;
but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Matthew 7:17
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for a tree is known by his fruit.
Matthew 12:33
BTW, my husband did buy me a new, fancy version of the carry-all carts. But the original 'old lady cart that my husband got for me from the ditch' is still in use with it's pink wheels. It still shimmies and shakes, but has never lost a wheel again!
1 comment:
WOW! That is such an encouraging story. It's so good to remember that problems are actually chances to glorify the Lord before our children and whomever else may be watching.
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