A few days ago, I went to the gas station to put air in my tire.  I was excited because this gas station is right off the highway and usually super busy.  There is usually a line to get air.  When I pulled up, there were no cars in the spot.  I thought I had gotten lucky.  There was no sign on the air machine that said it was broken, like there was last month.  So I parked the car, turned on the machine,  and the indicator light came on showing that it was working.  I put my hand in front of the pump and felt the air flowing.    These were all good signs.  Just as I was about to take the cap off of my tire valve, I noticed that the needle in the air pump was missing.  I checked again.  It wasn’t there.  I wound the air hose back up and put it back in it’s place.  It was then that I noticed a very thin orange tape wrapped around the machine that said in tiny letters “Out of order”.  I drove off a tad disappointed.

This morning I got up and read the news.  I have no idea why I made that decision and I almost instantly regretted it. The political stories made me sad.  I don’t know who most of the people are in the entertainment stories, and I was so disheartened by the first two, that I didn’t even bother to get to the feel-good stories. I doubt they would have actually made me feel good.

This isn’t my normal routine.  Usually, I say a quick prayer.  I read my devotion, and then I check my social media to see if there is anything I need to see.  Today I’m already out of order and the sun isn’t even up.  As a result, I’m running a little late and everything about the day already seems off.  Just like that air machine, I’ll look like I’m working, and sound like I’m functional, but upon a closer look, I’ll be missing a key part.

Sometimes, when people are out of order, there are big glaring signs that you can see from a distance.  Other times, you have to get really close to determine whether there is a malfunction or a dysfunction.  Some of us have the heart to want to fix things when they are out of order.  But I know my limitations.  I know when to call in the expert.  The master physician, the heart fixer, the mind-regulator.  I’m calling on Him to get me fully operational.

Mama Radford