In the U.S., we just had our Thanksgiving holiday. As the name suggests, it’s a time for us to be thankful for our blessings. And just in time for it, I had an experience that brought forth a lot of gratitude. I discovered I had a nail in the sidewall of my tire. So why should I be thankful for that? Well, everything worked together to ensure I didn’t have a flat tire from it.

Apparently, I’d driven 200 miles with it in my tire, and it didn’t go flat while I was on the lonely stretch of highway between Phoenix and N. Arizona. My husband discovered my tire pressure was very low during his monthly car fluid and tire check, postponed from the week before. Unfortunately, the nail was in the sidewall. The tire couldn’t be fixed and I needed a new one.

Since it was getting close to my needing to get 4 new tires, I went ahead, got a quote for all of them and ordered them. It turned out they were going to cost considerably less than I expected. When I had them installed, the garage had instituted a new system, which charged me a lot more than the quote. But because I’d gotten the quote with the old system, they honored it.

I had a lot to be grateful for. The timing of everything worked to my advantage. I didn’t get a flat, it was discovered the day before I was heading down to Phoenix again, and because I bought them now, I saved money on the tires.

Even when you have something challenging happen, you can find something good in it if you look. What blessing can you find in your current challenge?

~ Linda-Ann Stewart