Have you ever felt despair over conflict in a relationship?  Fear of the unknown?  Regret over the past?

The best life coaching I ever received when I felt despair was to "ask for wisdom and a new opportunity to be of service."  That is my request most days.  Yesterday the answer was to spill an entire 12 oz. travel mug of warm tea on myself while I was driving!

I was driving a girlfriend to a cemetery about an hour and a half south of my hometown.  It was a healing journey for my friend to mourn the life of a family member who had died shortly after birth.  The car was heavy with emotion.

Our directions were for the cemetery office, not the cemetery itself.  As I turned the car around for the second time after searching down the wrong street, I reached for my travel mug in the cup holder by the driver's seat.  When I lifted the cup, the top came off.  The entire contents dumped into my lap!  After my initial startled reaction, I thought, "Huh, I wonder why that happened?"

My girlfriend was horrified as I sat there soaked to the skin.  Her inward focus turned on me as she started fussing.  "We have to find you some dry pants before we go to the grave site," she insisted.

The lukewarm tea was quickly turning into ice cold blue jeans so I agreed.  I turned the car around yet another time and headed toward a strip mall that I noticed as we entered the city.  At the strip mall, we cruised through the parking lot looking for a clothing store.  The only option was a thrift store. 

Thrift stores have a huge selection of jeans grouped by color. My mission was to find a pair that was relatively close to a 4 petite, which is a hard size to find.  After trying on three different pairs of jeans, I found a pair that fit me perfectly. 

My friend met me at the check-out counter.  She had a small wooden rocking horse, a tricycle sculpture, and a candle.  Little did I know how important those items were to her.

When we settled back into the car, my friend turned to me and said, "Months ago after I found this grave site, I began dreaming about placing a rocking horse and tricycle on this baby's grave.  It totally slipped my mind.  I didn't think about it until I saw the rocking horse in the thrift store.  It's the same rocking horse that was in my dream.  If you hadn't spilled that tea in our lap, we wouldn't be here."

I smiled at her and hugged her across the console.

If you're feeling negativity this holiday season, one of the quickest methods out of it is to "ask for wisdom and a new opportunity to serve."  Have you helped someone today?