Mountain View - Parking Lot Panic By Paula Friedrichsen
Writer Author Church On The Mountain
Christian Column
:
Inspirational
- Fiction No
This summer my daughter and I decided to take a girl’s trip and one of our stops was Sea World in San Diego. It’s unusual for me to take a vacation without my husband—and after you read about my ridiculous parking adventure, you’ll realize how much I rely on him. Here’s how the day went:
After a quick breakfast at our hotel Lovely Daughter and I jumped in the car and drove over to Sea World. We were herded into an immense parking lot where we quickly parked and joined the throng of people slowly entering through the turnstiles into the park. Grabbing a map we made our way from one exhibit to another, enjoying our day together.
By late afternoon our desire to not have to purchase another mediocre and expensive meal at Sea World (our lunch was $30.00 and we split a sandwich!) meant it was time to call it a day. So with the sounds of barking sea lions still ringing in our ears we began our trek back out to the car. By this time of day the entire parking lot (acre after acre after acre) was full of cars. And it was at the exact moment that I froze dead in my tracks and remembered I had forgotten to make a mental note of where we had parked the car (something my dear husband is usually in charge of). Dread hit me and I could feel the blood draining from my face. Neither of us had a clue as to what section we parked in. So there we stood right outside of Sea World with blank looks on our faces…. The only thing I could think of to do was to call my husband. But what was he going to do from 350 miles away, other than feel helpless to help me? So I nixed that idea.
Finally, I decided that we should just begin to walk in the general direction we felt we might have parked and ask God to lead us as we went. Honestly, we had no other choice. There was no way we could search a parking lot of that size. It was either depend on God to show us—or wait until midnight when the parking lot emptied out (which seemed like a fate worse than death at that exact moment in my life). So we tentatively headed toward the south part of the parking lot, and prayed quietly, “Lord, please show us where our car is. We are completely dependant on you right now.” We just kept walking, trying not to think too much about where we were going. After only 10 minutes Lovely Daughter stopped in the middle of the parking lot, swiveled a quarter turn, pointed to her left and said calmly, “Could that be our car over there?”
I was so hot, tired, hungry, and irritated, that I wanted to shout to Lovely Daughter, “No, no, no! You have no idea where the car is! Nobody does! We’ll be out here all night!!!” But instead I looked where she pointed and said something like, “Well I don’t think so honey, there are lots of white Hondas out here.”
But then she said, “Look, that’s our triple A sticker on the window! And there’s the little dent on the trunk!”
That did it—I finally realized that the Lord had literally led us right to our car in 10 minutes! And He used Lovely Daughter to notice it. We were both SO thankful.
In retrospect, I realize that losing our car in the Sea World parking lot was not a crisis of enormous proportions. But honestly, God’s faithfulness in that situation was a hallmark experience for me. The fact that the Lord worked in my life in such a tangible way was not a surprise to me—He’s been faithful more times and in more ways than I could count. And yet, every time He shows His kindness in the small things in life I am bowled over by His love!
Editor's Comment:
About the Writer Author
State:
California
Country:
United States
Email:
Paulafriedrichsen@live.com
Website:
www.churchonthemountain.org
Profile:
Click here!
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