Faith And A Flat Tire

All of you who keep up with my writings and with me on Facebook know that for the past couple of years, there has been a lot going on in my life.  And during all of the health and financial issues, I have found my faith growing by leaps and bounds.

However, there are times that I worry. I know I am not supposed to, but there are times that life gets overwhelming  - I believe that these times are the times that we learn to grow closer to God and depend on Him for all of our needs.

Notice that I didn’t say our “wants”.

During my health issues, mom’s health issues, and our financial issues, there has never been a time that we did not have the things we need. Random checks showing up in the mail on the days we were down to nothing; even an anonymous envelope containing a $20.00 bill in the mailbox one day.

Each time this happens, I am humbled even more. Humility only comes by experience, and we fight that tooth and nail. I have always been a giver; learning to be a receiver is not an easy thing.

I had another one of those experiences in the past few days.

On Saturday, I was on my way home from Lovingston and I heard that dreaded sound. I pulled over, and found that the driver’s side front tire was flat. I couldn’t change it myself, but the blessing was that I had pulled over in front of a friend’s house, and her husband changed it for me. He let me know that both front tires were very worn on the inside.

I drove home on the small “donut” tire, and immediately began to wonder where we would get the money for at least 2 new tires.

Monday morning, I called our mechanic to see if he could take a look at it. Now he knows our financial situation, so when I take the car to him, he normally checks on things and then comes and talks with me about what needs to be done and how much it might cost.

Well, they pulled the car in and began working on it. Time went by. I heard noises, tools being used, and wondered why he hadn’t been out to tell me what was going on.

I got nervous. I was figuring up in my head how much two tires would cost. How much it would cost to fix whatever was wrong that caused the tires to wear so bad.

Then I prayed.

A few minutes later, he came in the office rolling the other front tire and told me the car needed to be aligned, and that was what had caused the tires to wear. Then he smiled at me and said, “I’m gonna tell you how the Lord works”.

He told me that he had gotten a call on Saturday from a man who had never been to his garage before and that he didn’t know, and the man wanted four new tires of a specific brand. He had them in stock, so he told the man to come on and he would put new tires on the car for him. When the man arrived, our mechanic looked at his old tires and they were in good shape, so he wondered why the man wanted new ones. But he went ahead and replaced them as the man requested.

He looked at me and said, “You may not believe this, but I still had those tires in the back and they are the same brand and size that are on your mom’s car. So I went ahead and put them on for you”.

I was amazed! I was thankful! And I immediately thought how less expensive used tires are!

They finished working on the car, and he came out and told me I was ready to go. I asked him how much we owed him. This is what he said:

“You don’t owe me a penny. The man paid me to dispose of them and I was gonna throw them away. So you don’t owe me anything. Consider it a blessing from God”.

I cried. I’m crying now while I am writing this. I hugged him, thanked him, thanked Jesus, and cried all the way home.

See, while I was worried, God had already fixed it.

God made a way.

He supplied my needs.

By sending a random man to Wingina to get new tires when he really didn’t need them; and by giving us an honest, Christian mechanic who truly cares about people.

See what can happen when we truly listen to God - when He asks us to do something that doesn’t make sense to us, but we obey Him. We may never know why He asked us to do a certain thing, but you better believe He has a reason for it.

There’s another way that God has supplied my needs. See, I am a sinner. There is no way I could redeem myself, or pay for my sins. So God made a way, through His Son Jesus Christ, to pay a debt I cannot pay.

While I was a sinner, God had already fixed it.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 

God made a way.

 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6


He supplied my needs.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 

And He supplied your needs. The need for a Saviour.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Romans 3:23 

Say yes to Him today...and travel the True Journey.

Judging My Shoes

See this picture? This is a pair of K Swiss tennis shoes I bought in the spring of 2012 at Rugged Wearhouse for $20. I was still working and planning on working for a long while. This was way before I got sick, before Mom got sick, and before money became tight.

Now, when it comes to clothes and shoes, I could care less what I am wearing as long as I am covered up. And I can get a lot of wear out of what I do have. But the tennis shoes I had were getting pretty rough, and I figured this was a good deal, so I came home with these shoes.

I wore them a few times here and there, then I ended up in the hospital, Mom ended up sick. With not working, and having the wound in my stomach and a new colostomy, I dressed in sweats a lot, and I wore these tennis shoes more than I had before.

So, one day I was visiting someone and we were talking about how things can happen so quickly and how money gets tight fast when you’re not working, and gas money to drive to Charlottesville and back home (about an 82 mile round trip) everyday for Mom’s cancer treatments…and she looked at my feet and said, “Are those new shoes?”

I guess she thought I was “pleading hard times” (do y’all say that?) while spending money on new shoes.

Which made me stop and think.

How many times have I done the same thing?

How many times have I known someone who was having difficulties and judged their situation by what they were wearing, driving, eating, etc.?

How many times have I known someone who was on disability and saw them doing something and said, “If they can do that, they can work”?

How many times have I seen someone check out at the grocery store using an EBT card and thought, “I’m getting tired of my tax money paying for someone else’s groceries and I can’t afford my own”?

Now don’t get me wrong - I know that there are people who take advantage of government programs, and should be investigated. This includes Medicaid, Food Stamps, and disability.

But there are a group of people out there who don’t use assistance programs as a career. There are people out there who live from paycheck to paycheck, with a plan for every penny that they make…as long as nothing goes wrong. Their finances are a finely tuned machine that works as long as there aren’t any glitches. They work, they pay taxes, but sometimes the money doesn’t cover the bills.

They don’t live extravagantly, they just live.

And when unemployment comes, or illness invades their lives, or a spouse leaves them with unpaid bills…and many other scenarios, the bottom falls out. Financially and emotionally.

There are also people out there who are physically challenged to do things for themselves anymore - some do physical labor that they shouldn’t be doing. But why?

Over the next few posts, I want to share how I went from being one of those people who judged others, to being on the other side of the fence.

I want to share how I learned the difference between “church folks” and Christians.

And how sometimes money isn’t the greatest need in someone’s life.

Meanwhile, back to the shoes.

I still have these shoes. They are still in really good shape. They are good for my balance and my walking,  and they help my back a lot with their support. But I still hesitate to wear them because I know how people are.

I know how I am. I know the looks. I know the thoughts. I’ve looked that way. I’ve thought that way.

And now sometimes those looks and thoughts are being thrown in my direction.

But what the world doesn’t understand (and some Christians) is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. As Paul Harvey used to say, you have to know “the rest of the story”. But a lot of times we don’t care. We just judge.

So, more often than not, I put on my old Nike tennis shoes. They are old and worn out, have no support left in them, and the soles are just about detached from the bottom…sometimes they flop when I walk.

Some days, more often than not, I feel a lot like these old Nikes. Physically and spiritually. My body has gone through a lot the last couple of years, and I am still having issues that need to be addressed - I can’t do a lot of the things I used to do, and it gets frustrating at times.

Some days, I spiritually feel like these old Nikes. I feel like my soul is detached, and that no matter how hard I try, I just don’t get it.

But through it all, I trust Him who made me. I trust Him who died for me. I trust Him who saved me.

He has a purpose for this season in my life. And I am not ashamed to share the Jesus who is my Saviour, my Lord and my provider.

No matter what people say about my shoes or anything else in my life.

Because in this weakness, I am losing a lot of things.

I have lost my ability to financially provide for myself right now, and I have lost my health in certain areas.

I have lost friends who either don’t care or don’t care to take the time to care.

I have lost my pride. For this time in my life, I have had to accept help from people and places that have truly humbled me. Some of it has been financial. Some of it has been physical. And we will go into that later in this series.

And in this weakness, I am gaining even more.

Those friends who didn’t care or didn’t take time to care have been replaced with those who do care, and who do take time to care.

Help has come from God’s people in ways that I could never imagine.

But most of all, I continue to gain a dependence on Christ that I would not have had, had I not been made weak in all areas of my life.

Through the next few posts, we will explore some of these areas and I will share how God has used my experiences so far to change my perspective on a lot of things.

As I was recovering from my surgery, this verse appeared in my devotions one morning:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4: 17-18

I consider the struggles of this life a light affliction. And I am looking forward to the things which are not seen, that are eternal.

Join me next time as we discuss the difference between “church folks” and Christians.

This Jesus I Follow...

Well, it's almost finally here! I guess you all have noticed that I haven't posted in awhile...well, this is what I have been working on.

This is a self-published, self-produced project of 9 of my original songs, the stories behind the songs, and the Biblical lessons from each song.

The packaging is not fancy, nor is the recording: just me and the guitar (and banjo in a couple of places). But it is my heartfelt desire to get the message out...to share the Gospel...and to show others this Jesus I Follow...

This project is available for a suggested donation of $15 ($5 for shipping and handling if I mail it to you). Please contact me at lissaleighmorris@gmail.com or call/text 434-282-5355 for ordering information.