One of Those Mondays for Mrs. Muley

Guest blogger today is Mrs. Muley, who sent out this e-mail this morning to all of our Sunday School class:

I just wanted to let you know what a blessed Monday morning I've had! I don't usually use the words "blessed" and "Monday" in the same sentence, but I think today qualifies.

Today, with 12 minutes until the bell, my daughter Katelyn, her friend Heather, and I were distressed to find the van wouldn't start, but would merely "click." After being reminded by both girls that they couldn't be tardy because "they're taking tardies really serious this year," I jumped out of the car, ran into the house and called my next door neighbor, Barbara. Barbara, who I speak to maybe a couple of times a month, answered the phone with a sleepy "hello." I quickly explained our dilemma and asked her if I could borrow her new SUV to quickly drive the panicked kids to school -- only seven minutes till the bell! She graciously let me and we drove out of her driveway with five minutes to go. I dropped the girls off with three minutes until the bell and returned the car to Barbara. (Yes, we live very close to the school, but not close enough to walk).

It always seems that any time I run into Barbara, I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, but today I felt obligated to listen to her woes and patiently listened while she told me about her "deadbeat son-in-law and lazy grandkids," among other problems. It had been a stressful year and she couldn't understand why things had been going so badly for her family. I told her to keep praying and don't give up hope. Okay, gotta see about getting this van fixed.

That's when I called my brother Pete, whom I work with (only seven minutes away), and got him to come over to my aid. He jumped the battery and we were on our way to see about getting a new one. However, the van started acting up with the display flashing off and on and I realized a trip to Wal-Mart wasn't going to cut it. I called him on the cell and told him to head to the dealer's instead. I prayed us all the way to the intersection of Hwy 6 and Bagby. The van died at the light, first one in line and only one lane open due to construction. I got out of the van, looked pleadingly at my brother who was following in his truck, and tried to wave traffic over. Then a construction worker drove up out of nowhere onto the grass and asked if we needed help. He pulled his truck up and using my brother's cables, got my engine started again, and I made the short drive to the dealer's, where my van sits and I wait to hear the news.

All this to say, despite a bumpy start to a Monday, all this has made me appreciate my neighbor, my brother, and a stranger who all selflessly came to my aid today -- also cell phones! I really do feel blessed. It also blesses me to know that I can call on any of you and you would be there for me. Hope all of you have a blessed day -- minus the car trouble!

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I'll keep everyone posted on how this turns out. I, too, am thankful both for good friends and that someone looking out for us from above.