On one of our summer adventures with my daughter and her friend, we had a scheduled event. We arrived with enough time to find parking and pay.
As I pulled up to the meter, I started looking around for quarters. When we all pooled our quarters together, we ended up with four. Yay! That will be just enough.
I pulled into a spot and proceeded to put my first quarter in. It registered, 30 minutes. I put the second one in. Still 30 minutes. Ugh. A wasted quarter. I jiggle the machine a bit and added the third quarter. Still 30 minutes. I finally read the signs and realize that spot was only for 30 minute parking and now I’d lost three of my four quarters.
We’d have to move as 30 minutes was not sufficient time for what we needed and I was not going to risk a ticket.
After driving to another area, I found some spots, but now, I only had one quarter left. I tried calling the number to pay but was uncomfortable putting my credit card in this system. I hung up.
I saw a man sitting his car, two spots from me and decided to brave asking if he had quarters. I indicated to him, asking to roll the window down. As he did, I noticed he was both on the phone and having lunch. I apologized and proceeded to ask if he had quarters. He asked a question and I answered honestly.
His response was not what I was expecting. He told me to go ahead and that I shouldn’t worry about it. He said ‘trust me, I’ll make sure it’s ok’. I think he saw both my puzzled and slightly bewildered look as I was trying to determine my next best steps.
In that moment, I determined to trust him.
One of my girls left something in the car and I turned back to get it. He paused his conversation and asked if I didn’t trust him.
I quickly explained that wasn’t the reason, and that I was going to trust him. But we were looking for something.
This conversation brought back to mind when I remembered God telling me that I could trust Him, and I knew this was a conversation with a stranger, and yet, it felt vaguely familiar.
As I returned to the car, a few hours later, the car was there and no ticket. I won’t tell you that I wasn’t a bit concerned as to whether I would have gotten a ticket in my absence – but, I was determined to relax and trust what I heard.
Can I tell you how glad I am that I can trust what God says? I can’t tell you that I don’t go back looking at the issue that I’ve asked Him to solve, but I know He chuckles and asks ‘Kaysi, don’t you trust me?’
I’m still learning. I hope you are too.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for kind strangers, even when we don’t understand the roles they play. Please help us to be kind to those we meet that might need it too. Thank you for the continued lessons in teaching us how to trust you.