In Times of Trouble

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” *

When the University of Michigan men’s basketball team was scheduled to play Wisconsin on the same day as Al’s birthday, we decided to celebrate by getting tickets to the game. Going to the game was a great gift for him, a loyal U of M fan! Since it would be about a forty-five-minute drive from home in fairly heavy traffic and would mean driving late at night, we decided to stay overnight in Ann Arbor near the university’s Crisler Arena.

We left home around noon on the day of the game after taking the dogs to the kennel and picking up a smaller birthday present that had arrived in the store the night before—an egg cooker! I wanted to be sure that he got it on time even though we wouldn’t be able to use it for a few days.

After driving the forty or so miles from our house to Ann Arbor, a signal suddenly appeared on the dashboard. “Low tire pressure.” Uh oh! We had planned the time before the game carefully so that we could check into the hotel, eat a nice dinner and then arrive at the Crisler Arena early to catch the pre-game warmups. Traffic and parking were always a problem with mobs of people wanting to attend the U of M home games, so it was imperative to get there early.

Would there be enough time to stop and have the air pressure in the tires checked or should we just ignore the signal and take care of it another day? What to do? Al asked me to check the GPS for nearby car repair shops. As it turned out, there was one only a few minutes away from our location and in the same direction as the hotel. He decided to take care of it right away.

When we pulled into the shop, it was nearly empty. A service man was available to run the diagnostic tests and check the air pressure. There had been a decrease in the number of miles per gallon of gas used while driving over the last few months, possibly due to the extremely cold weather causing the air pressure in the tires to drop and thus affecting the mileage.

As it turned out, our ten-year old Ford Escape was showing some signs of aging. Air pressure wasn’t the issue after all. The batteries on two of the tire sensors were going bad and the only way to replace them was to buy new pressure sensors at $100 each. This was going to be an expensive birthday celebration!

Al arranged to have the sensors replaced right then and there. It only turned out to be about a twenty-minute wait. Before long we were checking into the hotel, relieved that things had gone so smoothly. Because it was his birthday, he could get a discount on dinner at the adjoining restaurant, not enough to make up the cost of the sensors, but it was still a nice ‘gift!’

 “There are a few perks to getting older!” he told the receptionist at the front desk.

 Unfortunately, even with careful planning, we still got caught in traffic and arrived after the first half had commenced. Michigan was not off to a good start. The team needed Al to cheer them on! “Go Blue!”

It was surprising to see the color pink predominating in and around the arena that evening instead of the usual maize and blue. The theme of the evening happened to be “Think Pink’ to promote breast cancer awareness. We each received a pink ribbon as we entered, but missed the opportunity for free t shirts.

 There was a deafening round of applause when the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center and cancer survivors were spotlighted on the big screen suspended over the basketball court. We felt the support and encouragement, especially since our daughter is currently undergoing treatment for metastatic breast cancer there. Go Pink!

Well, the home team didn’t win the game, sorry to say. But it was still a special day; and the string of events that happened reminded us that we never alone. He is with us…we are grateful!

*2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV