Tire Tread Truth

Well, winter has officially arrived. It's not often that we get snow here at the beach, but there's a couple of inches on the ground now and it looks like there's a lot more on the way. Personally, I love the snow. It makes everything so clean looking. It's as if nature decided to give the world a fresh coat of paint. Apparently, nature is broke and could only afford one shade of white paint...but whatever, it certainly spices things up!

Especially the driving part. People out here really ought to be a lot better at driving in the snow than they are. True, we don't get a lot of snow right on the beach. But we do get it a couple of times a year. And the only road to Portland (which is civilization for people on the North Coast) goes straight over the Coast Mountain Range were there is always snow in the winter. You'd think everyone would be prepared. As it is, I think I was actually able to hear the circus music start playing as the snowfall began. Now, it's not as bad as the videos you see from places like Texas during an ice storm or anything, but come on, people! If you have to drive slower than my 2-year-old niece pushes her dolly's stroller, then maybe you should just call a cab. Trust me, the cabbie knows the way to the dollar store. And if you have just watched three cars in a row slide sideways through the intersection up ahead, that might be your clue take another route instead of adding to the avante-guarde automobile sculpture on the other side of the stoplight.

It is pretty, though. Pretty and cold. I drove to one of our favorite surf spots today and there were a few of my die-hard surf buddies out in the water. The waves were really small, but clean and longboardable. I think people were just out in the water for the sheer novelty of surfing in the snow. Camille and I have experienced that novelty twice now and promised each other that we would pass on a third opportunity this year! It's not so bad in the water - but the air temperature just about kills you. Especially when you're wet. The Rip Curl company just came out with a wetsuit that has a little battery pack and heat coils running throughout the suit that heat up like an electric blanket. It works great, but I'm of the mind that if I have to pay almost a thousand dollars for a wetsuit and risk electric shock just to go in the water...well, at that point it's time to pony up the bucks for a lift ticket and go snowboarding!

I was watching the weather reports last week saying that the snow was coming and I was thinking that it is time to get in and get new tires for my SUV. Well, as I often do, I procrastinated. I have 4-wheel-drive, right? The tires will be OK for a few more thousand miles. Well, as we were driving (on the icy highway) back from having breakfast at Camille's parents' house this morning, the little light came on on my dash telling me that one of my tires was under-inflated. We turned into our driveway and I got out and looked at my tires. Sure enough, the right front one was starting to deflate. Fortunately, we have a Les Schwab tire store right here in town. I jumped back in the car and had Camille follow me in her car over to Les Schwab. Guess I was gonna get those new tires after all!

Have I mentioned that there is lots of snow on the ground? And that the roads are icy? Wanna take a guess as to what is the worst possible time to patronize your local tire store? Yeah, when it's snowing. I think the whole town of Seaside was inside of Les Schwab. From the number of cars in the parking lot, I wondered if Hannah Montana was inside signing autographs. Wait, this is Seaside Oregon...make that: I wondered if they were giving out free cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Whatever the case, I knew I was in for wait. Procrastination...

I gotta hand it to the employees of Les Schwab. I was helped in a very timely manner. The guy behind the counter didn't even reach for his tire iron to beat the guy in front of me who asked if someone could install the windshield wipers he just purchased! Six thousand people in line needing new tires and one dude wants them to install wiper blades...God bless Les Schwab employees. To make a long story short, they were sold out of the tires I want but had them at their store about twenty minutes north of here. Since my tire is now flat, I am currently waiting for my father-in-law to come in his truck and help me pick up the tires and bring them back to Seaside to get them installed. Once again, I am failing to see how my procrastination helped me in any way.

What's the point of all of this? Well, we often like to complain about how 'when it rains it pours' or 'bad things come in bunches'...that sort of thing. As Christians, we often somehow lay the responsibility on God for making us 'go through the fire' or for 'strengthening our faith'. But here's something to think about. Maybe God just sometimes lets us live with the results of our own irresponsibility. Take the extremely trivial example of new tires for my SUV. I've known for a while that my tires were going to need replacement soon. I probably shouldn't have waited until it snowed to deal with the problem. I have no one to blame but myself for the fact that I am without a vehicle today. It's not Les Schwab's fault that their wait time is six hours right now. I know this is just a silly anecdote, but I can't blame God for not bailing me out or for trying to 'teach me something' through my flat tire. I was just irresponsible. And it made a really easy, fixable situation a lot worse than it had to be.

How many truly important things in our lives are at risk of becoming a lot more complicated than they need to be? Is there something that you know that God is asking you to deal with that you have been putting on the back-burner? If my little experience with truck tires is any indication, it might be a good idea to deal with it now rather than try to survive the aftermath of irresponsibility or procrastination. It won't be God's fault when everything comes crashing down around you. In fact, He will probably be as bummed as you will be. Yeah, He's a good God and He'll be there to help you in spite of yourself. But wouldn't it be a lot less painful if you just let Him help you deal with it now? After all, He's probably the one who prompted you in the first place and obeying His voice is never a bad idea! Just a thought from someone stuck at home waiting for new tires!