Save My Space

Every week day, I drive to a commuter train which takes me to downtown.  However, there is no parking lot near my train station, and parking is quite limited.  Every day it is a guessing game – which street to go down, how far away will I find parking, how long will it take me to walk to the station, when exactly will the train reach the station.  Every day, I pray to Hashem to bring me a parking space and let me make the train.

 

Although it may seem like finding parking spaces is a rather uninteresting subject, and certainly not a spiritual one, some recent happenings have reminded me that nothing is insignificant to Hashem – we must ask for every little thing and depend on Him totally, and we can learn from every little thing.  Even more, we can sometimes understand Hashem’s lessons easier when they come in tangible, “smaller” life events.

 

 

On my way home, there is one intersection that it is very difficult to get across, granted the way the lights are timed.  I generally avoid this perilous intersection, but sometimes it’s still the fastest way.  Usually, I ask Hashem for help and hit the intersection at just the right time.  In fact, I used to take that fact for granted.

 

That is until last month, when I forgot to ask Hashem for help in making the left turn before I came to the intersection.  I sat there a long time before giving up and going the long way – only to get stuck at that light and the next.

 

All told, my commute time doubled that day.  Sometimes, Hashem has to remind you that you can’t take His help for granted – you have to ask every single time, even for the “smallest” things.  And in this case, it really does make a big difference!

 

 

A couple years ago there was road construction and my travel time was greatly increased.  Moreover, you never knew when the construction moved to the next phase, cutting off the detour route you had worked so hard to find.

 

On two particular mornings a couple weeks apart, the drive to the station took an inordinate amount of time.  I arrived at the station when the train was supposed to be arriving, and still had to find a place to park.  Worried about getting to work on time, I asked Hashem to please let the train be late.

 

The first morning, the train was twenty minutes late.  The second time, it was delayed by more than forty-five minutes.  Although I meant that the train (which normally runs on an exact schedule) should be just a couple minutes later, I learned my lesson: now I ask that I make the train – not that it should be late!

 

 

On one particular morning a couple months ago, I was really running behind.  It had been a particularly difficult morning.  I cried the entire drive, and was tremendously distraught by what had transpired before I left the house.  Even more, I was worried about making the train since I was so very late.

 

As I arrived at the station, I couldn’t believe my eyes – the very first space, right in front of the station – was open.  In parking terms, this is like winning the lottery – in all my years parking at the train, I had never gotten this first space.

 

It hit me like a lightning bolt – Hashem loves me so much!  Here, I think I’m in last place with everything that is going on in my life – and Hashem has this unbelievable first space sitting here, waiting for me, to remind me of how much I am loved, and that He is taking care of everything.  I may feel that I am in last place, but with emuna, I can be in first place.  And if Hashem is taking care of my parking spaces – he’s taking care of everything else, too.

 

 

A couple weeks ago, I was basically on time – until I got stuck behind a bus.  There is a bus route that runs my usual drive to work, and I try hard to avoid this lumbering dinosaur – it’s hard to get out from behind it, and it arrives at the station only two minutes or so before the train – not enough time to park and walk.

 

I tried to be calm.  I said to myself  “Everything Hashem does is for the best; it’s all min hashamayim – from Heaven.”  I followed the bus to the station, relieved that it was running a little early and praying to Hashem that I find a space quickly so I can make the train, even with the delay.

 

As I’m driving down the street on the first block from the station – a block that is always parked up – a green Ford Explorer suddenly pulled out of a space right in front of me.  I pulled in, thanking Hashem for my good fortune, amazed at the exact timing.  If I hadn’t gotten delayed by the bus, he would still have been in the space…and who knows where I would have parked.  I made the train with minutes to spare.

 

Hashem times everything to the exact second – nothing happens one instant before or after it’s supposed to.  Sometimes we hit roadblocks in our life, but when the car “pulls out in front of us” – then we understand that we are exactly at the right place, at the right time.

 

 

As I’ve explained, parking is quite difficult near my train station.  However, on street cleaning days, almost 1/3 of the spots in the area are taken off the “parking market.”  On days like this, I don’t even try – I take the bus. 

 

Except that last week the bus was extremely early, and as much as I tried to run for it, the bus pulled away when I was only a couple feet away.  “Oh no,” I thought to myself.  “The next bus doesn’t make my train – I’ll be 30 minutes late for work!”

 

Then I realized that I had accidentally taken my car keys with me, even though I hadn’t planned to need them.  I decided that if Hashem made me both take my keys “accidentally” AND miss the bus – well then, He wants me to drive.  And if He wants me to drive, He knows I need to park – and He’ll bring me a parking space.

 

So, with a prayer on my lips as I get into the car and note that I’m now later than I would normally leave, I pull out of my parking space behind my house.  As I’m getting close to the train station, I pull up – behind the bus! 

 

“Oy – this is going to make me even later!” I thought.  I turned down a street I normally wouldn’t take to avoid staying behind the bus and within a block of the station – a nice big parking space!!!  Since it was on the opposite side of the street, I quickly sped to the end of the block to turn around.  As I’m finishing the turn, I notice a Honda Civic behind me.  This Civic had been in front of me but had gotten stuck behind the bus, and now I was able to get the space first.

 

As I walked to the train, I thought to myself about the hashkacha pratis – Hashem’s guiding hand – in what had just transpired.  Hashem made me take my car keys, then miss the bus, only to get stuck behind it, but getting stuck behind it made me find the parking space, which I then got because the car in front of me was still stuck behind that bus!  Phew!

 

If any one of those things hadn’t happened, I surely would have been late for work.  But, if Hashem wants you to do something, He is going to provide you the means because He knows what you need to succeed.