The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Inconveniences:Blessings

by Dessa Rodeffer, Publisher

19 December 2001

After I decided to take my son's car this Friday, it has been nothing but an inconvenience.

First of all, driving a 5-speed Firebird takes a lot of work when you are use to an automatic transmission, but also, the car is so small, it doesn't hold much.

Well, it will hold me, but my purse, papers and notebook usually travel on one seat, leaving the back seats and hatchback trunk which are just too small to hold much.

Since I had filled the car with gas a couple days earlier, I thought I might as well take it to pick up my ads in Monmouth.

What I also forgot to account for, instead of the 20+ gallon tank I was use to, it only had a 14 gallon tank, and about 3 miles outside of Biggsville, the car began acting up.

I first thought of an engine problem, but then I seen the tank was on "E".

I coasted into a farm house, and a man came out and put a couple gallons of

gasoline into my tank. He wouldn't take a thing for it, and said he hoped someday I would pass on the favor to someone else.

It was an inconvenience, but what a good feeling I received from his act of kindness.

After finishing my work in Monmouth, I found I still had enough time to drive to Des Moines, Iowa and visit my son Damon, wife Kellee and three grandchildren and tour their new home they had moved into this fall. It was a wonderful idea, until after I arrived and was getting ready to return home on Sunday and could not find the keys to my son's car.

We looked in every possible place we could think of and finally had to call my son in Stronghurst and ask him to drive to Des Moines to pick me up so I could return to The Quill to work.

Because the Pontiac was a 1989, I could not get a set of keys made from a serial number. They would have to pick up the car and tear it apart to get each code. The minimum fee was $150 for the ignition and $30 for the door key, if there were no problems.

This was a major inconvenience and after discussing the work situation with my Editor Shirley Linder, I found the quickest I could return home was Monday evening.

Luckily, my youngest son Matt, was able to come Monday afternoon.

It was an inconvenience, but it allowed me to attend church to see my grandson sing as I witnessed the "kids version" of the Christmas story. Then I spent a more relaxed time with my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren enjoying visiting that evening, and reading the Bible story again in Luke.

In Luke 1:31-33 (New International Version) Angel Gabriel told Mary-

"You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

Mary was engaged to Joseph, the carpenter, not a good time to become pregnant. It was also an inconvenience. But Mary, allowing for the inconvenience, said, in verse 38 (King James version) "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

And out of this inconvenience was a savior born that would rule the world forever.

Inconveniences are things we have not planned for, or an interruption in our planned schedule of events.

But inconveniences may be a better plan if we look for the blessings within.

The inconvenience of a lost key, gave me time to be with some of my family members longer. It gave me time to ponder on the Christmas story as told by Luke. It gave me time to address some of my Christmas cards, and time to focus again on the true meaning of the gospel.

My daughter Darci, in Colorado, said she too was inconvenienced when a friend didn't show for a meeting they had. The friend had misunderstood the city they were to meet in and then wondered if Darci would be upset after she didn't show up. Darci said "no." It actually had given her some time to relax, concentrate, and focus on issues that she needed to work on that she hadn't had time to deal with until then.

Many times inconveniences are frustrating, but if we look again, we can find there is a blessing tucked inside, sometimes, too huge to understand at the time.

For me, the inconvenience not only gave me more time with my family, but also brought me peace by allowing me to take in more clearly the true meaning of Christmas.

In the case of Mary, her willingness to accept a huge inconvenience, brought hope and promise to a world needing guidance, love and forgiveness. It brought Jesus, our Savior.