Two Sundays ago, I was at the Los Angeles Hertz Rental Car parking lot in my assigned white Jeep equipped with NeverLost GPS. Ready to sprint through my one week break! Upon checking out at the exit, the parking attended asked, “Your driver’s license please?”

Eyes bigger than usual, I replied, “I think I just died! I don’t recall moving my driver’s license to this purse!”   What a disaster!  How in the world am I going to manage navigating between these sprawling cities this week without a car! Lord, help!

Long story short, the email copy of my driver’s license wouldn’t do. I had to say ByeBye to the jeep I had developed a fleeting affection for and call me an Uber.  I couldn’t get over how overly smart (haha) I was. This was the first time I can recall that I forgot my driver’s license on vacation.  When I was done kicking myself in the butt (figuratively of course as I haven’t perfected the skills of a contortionist), I settled peacefully that God had really allowed this to happen, perhaps to rein in my vagabond plans.

I started going around in Uber and soon realised that I was saving me some money every half day!  Just five dollars to go down to Jo-ann Fabric for an hour.  Another five dollars to go to another stop.

Picking up my son from his flight wasn’t bad at all. My childhood best friend, Sarah, met me for a lovely tapas lunch at Pueblo in Costa Mesa and she was so gracious to take me to pick up my son at the airport then she took us both to the nearest train station.

The Amtrak train ride to San Diego was a breeze with my feet up on my hand trolley luggage the whole way.  I gained an appreciation for train station architecture.

Not having a car spared me from wrestling my way through traffic, tiredness, jetlag, and sleepiness; instead, I had time to rest as I charged my phone on the outlet, use the Wifi on board; I merely set my alarm a few minutes before arrival time so as not to end up where I started or beyond.

Upon meeting up with my family, my brother had rented a huge van and having my own car would have not only been redundant but an unnecessary burden on parking, driving, car care.  My sister recounted how the car rental my aunt took when they road tripped to the Pacific Northwest got sideswiped by a bus while they were doing their rounds at a farmer’s market just a couple weeks prior.

And here I was spared of such hassle; instead, my siblings and I had a blast giggling our way through our treks. I was able to enjoy our precious family time.  My dear brother drove me to remaining errands I needed to run.

I savoured time with my family for my nephew’s wedding …

Halfway through our trip, my son was in favour of extending his US stay by one day.  That change came with a fee and because I forgot my driver’s license and didn’t push through with my car rental, I even saved a hundred dollars using the would-have-been rental budget in exchange for the schedule change fee.

Thank You for the reminder that what looks like a disaster from our viewpoint is not necessarily one; You may be using it for good.  Help us to keep this in mind when something that looks like a disaster arises.

And oh, thank You for the gift of time with family!