A God-Protected Tyre

I shifted from the Young Adults cell to the Cheng home cell for one main reason: I hated to drive out from my house alone at night time.

Now all my new cell members lived within the Cheng area. As the Heng couple's house was two streets from mine, we usually went together when the gathering was held in another residential area. This year, I volunteered to be the driver most of the time since I was the youngest of all.

Two weeks ago when I went back from the campus on a Friday, I dropped by at Heng's house to tell them that I would pick them later. Then I was surprised to learn that they and another couple had quit CLA for some reason, so they were no longer members.

After I had reached home, I contacted Aunty Doris to offer her a lift. She would also not be available. Excuses not to attend the meeting began to flow in my head: I would be alone in the car; There would be very few of us in our cell leader's house with the absence of five regular attendees; It would be dull without the guitarist's accompanying music...

God knew my heart. While I could not make up my mind to go, my cell leader sent a phone message to me to ask if I could bring Aunty Doris as well. I gave him her reply and finally made my final decision. Having been a host myself, I imagined the disappointed feeling when guests did not turn up.

The small gathering was quite nice after all. I was leaving at 11pm. I usually liked to switch on the radio or play a CD in the car. That night, however, as soon as I started the engine, I put my concentration on identifying roads to get out of the residential area which I was not familiar with. I was slowly approaching the main road when I heard a strange rhythmic sound. It was not coming from inside my car, but outside. So I immediately stopped at the roadside, got down and instinctively checked the back tyre.

A screw had been nailed into the tyre!

I immediately pulled it out and simply threw it on the ground. Without panic, I continued my driving. I had about fifteen minutes to reach home. I was not really worried but negative thoughts were still being shot into my mind: Had I stayed at home, my car would not have run across the screw; If the tyre flattened, it would be troublesome to get a mechanic to go to my house... To get rid of them, I began to thank God for blessing my safe return journey. The Holy Spirit also reminded me of the improper disposal of the screw. So I confessed my sin and prayed that my inconsiderate behavior would not bring trouble to other road users.

When I arrived at the house, the tyre was still full of air. The next morning, there was no sign of a flat tyre. I was relieved and soon forgot about the incident. I drove to church and to work as usual.

Three days later, I sent my car to the workshop as it had reached the mileage for service. I had planned that morning so that I would spend the whole day in town. When I reached the workshop, it was still close. After fifteen minutes, the workers started their working day even though their boss had not yet arrived at the office. I requested the checking of the alignment and balancing of the tyres in addition to the usual service of my car. Then I sat on a chair outside and started reading "Our Daily Bread".

After awhile, the friendly lady boss appeared. I had been to that workshop several times before and was usually asked to sit inside the air-conditioned office while waiting. That day, she did not invite me. Anyway, I was very comfortable sitting outside as it was not hot at all. She went in and out from her office two, three times. When a young worker was checking the balancing of one of my tyres with a computerised screen, she happened to walk past and told him, "The surface of this rim is very bumpy. Something must be done." Then she turned to me and said, "Miss, if you aren't in a hurry, we're going to get it repaired somewhere else. It'll take about half an hour."

I gave the approval. So she called an uncle to send the rim to a nearby tyre shop with his motorcycle. The man said to me, "Your tyre must have been hit by stones. Didn't you feel any difference when you were driving?" I answered, "I don't remember but it's possible. My car also sometimes ran on potholes. I know very little about cars. As long as I can drive it, I'm satisfied."

After he left, I continued my reading. I suddenly thought of that screw. So I approached the worker who was in charge of checking my tyres and asked him if that damaged rim belonged to the right rear tyre. The young man confirmed my guess.

When the lady boss was passing in front of me again, I told her about the Friday night incident. She said that the screw must have pierced the tyre diagonally and hit the edge of the rim.

The uncle came back with the rim. The repair cost me another RM40 but I thank God that the technical problem of my car had been solved without even my precedent knowledge of its existence.

Two days ago, I went out for lunch with KC. She mentioned an accident happened to her car, so I also talked about mine.

She was surprised. "I would have let that screw remain in the tyre. After you had pulled it out, the air would have gone out of the tyre faster."

"That was my first reaction because the sound was disturbing. I didn't think twice." For the first time, I realized that my spontaneous act would have led to a worse consequence.

She asked, "Your tyre wasn't flattened at all?"

I shook my head and started wondering how the screw could have damaged the rim without affecting the rubber.

Only God knows the answer.