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When I moved to Denver, I sold my three-bedroom house and purged much of the contents before loading the remaining items in a 24' truck, my car, and my parents car to make the trek from Baton Rouge to Denver.  We detoured slightly and stayed a night each with my sisters in Houston and Dallas, then spent one night in a hotel before pulling into Denver on June 1, 2013.

The heat was nothing like a Louisiana summer, so the unloading seemed like a less daunting task than the loading had been.  We started that afternoon and still had another day before having to return the truck.

Thankfully, God provided a storage unit, which was in high demand, and we took advantage of the truck to transfer the items headed to storage.  My brother-in-law, my dad, and I creatively and efficiently packed everything into a small storage unit on a Friday afternoon before the truck was to be turned in Saturday morning.  Since it was still a hour or two before closing, we decided to turn the truck in early and be free of a 24' liability that had been with us for a week now.

Pulling out of the storage unit facility, with relief and exhaustion setting in, the gate began to close on the truck.  There was nothing to be done.  I reentered the code for the gate, the truck was pulling forward, but nothing could be done.  The gate was now closed on the truck and we were stuck.  We all stepped out to assess the situation and wondered why the weight sensor for the gate had not been activated.  We later learned that a lightening storm the week before had caused a short and the system needed to be reset.  However, that knowledge was of no help to us in our current predicament.

Long story short (I know, too late), since the gate wouldn't budge, we tried to pull forward with the truck and blew a tire that was caught on the base on the gate.

I got a horrible sinking feeling and feared the worst with the expense and hassle that would come from this.  I called my insurance agent and tried multiple times to call the local office where we were to return the truck.

We eventually got the truck free and the gate retracted, but with no answer at the truck-return location, we debated our options.  The truck was still drivable, so with 30 or so minutes left in the workday, we headed to turn in the truck.

I have always believed that honesty is the best policy, but I feared the consequences and financial implications of all that had happened.

However, after explaining the course of events and tire damage to the shop owner and expressing our attempts to reach him by phone for consultation, he turned to us and said, "Let's just call this a blown tire.  You're good to go."

I felt so relieved - to not have to deal with the hassle of sorting things out with insurance; to not have to pay to replace or repair a tire of that size; to have told the truth and been blessed by kindness and grace. 

To God be the glory.

I have been in Venezuela for the past week: one of my many 2nd homes.  What a blessing to see the growth of my Christian brothers and sisters here and feel so at home walking the streets of Caracas.

Sometimes family has more to do with the blood of Christ than the blood of heritage.  And the beautiful thing is that the closer we grow to Christ and the more we mature in Him, the closer we grow to each other.

On Tuesday night, I had a lengthy and in-depth conversation with some brothers and sisters here who, when I left back in 2007, were baby Christians.  As we talked and shared things that God is doing in our lives, I realized and mentioned that we would not have been able to have that conversation several years ago.  But now, with how they have grown in their faith and their relationship with Christ, we are now blessed with a new depth to our relationships.  What a blessing!

Take a moment today to thank God for your Christian family and the depth of relationship made possible in Him.