Flat Tire #16

      

     Here it is, flat tire number 16. Yeah that's right over the last seven years I have experienced 16 flat tires on the various vehicles I was driving at that particular time. So, if you have ever wondered where the title of this blog came from now you know. Flat Tire Ministries was berthed out of me having a bunch of literal flat tires, but the inception of FTM is oh so much more. A colleague recently asked me about the blog and how long I had been writing, which caused me to start thinking about how this all came about, and with that this week's message was created. So here we go with "Flat Tire #16".

     Just out of curiosity I'd like to see if my flat tire trajectory is an anomaly or if 16 flat tires over the past 7 years is pretty much the norm. If you don't mind just for my own sake would you post a reply on this site, or email, text, message me on social media, or if we happen to bump into one another over the next few days just share with me your experiences with flat tires. Thanks. I believe I won't be surprised, I just don't think there are too many people out there that have had an average of 2.28 flat tires per year, I'm not so sure some of you have had two flat tires since you started driving! We shall see. But, sharing flat tire fixes isn't what we are here for today, no today is more about what those flat tires represented and continue to represent in my life today. You have flat tires too, they may not be of the Goodyear brand type, but we all face flat tires in life and the important aspect of that is that we fix our flats and get back on the highway of life. 

     You see Flat Tire Ministries hasn't got a great deal to do with those literal flats we experience out on I-81, but more so, the flat tires I'm really talking about are things that I have labeled as the "Six Deadly D's" which include Disease, Divorce, Debt, Drugs, Death, and Depression. From 2010-2013 several life changing events took place in our family's life and most of those "events" are directly related to one or more of the items included in the Deadly D list. I can definitely say that period was a low water mark in my life. But nevertheless, that period of adversity ended up being the same period  I can mark on a calendar as the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Not only was I enlightened, but the life events I endured have become a driving force in my life which allowed me to write a Flat Tire Ministries blog each week for what is now going on four years. I have been blessed. God has allowed me to write a weekly blog that goes out around the world and for that I am humbled and thankful. I can attest, God uses flat tires to grow us to be the person God has purposed us to be. It's our job to make sure we get those flat tires fixed and get on with our journey to where God wants us to be. 

     Without going to deep in detail, let's just say back around 2011-2012 I was sitting on the side of life's road with four flats and no spare tire. During that time, I had started attending Freedom Fellowship Church in White Pine, Tennessee and I can honestly say that my real faith journey got underway during this period of my life. At this point I had also been the victim of about 6 or 7 literal flat tires as well, which was adding to life's frustrations stacking them up like Jenga Blocks teetering back and forth. Well one Sunday morning during Pastor David's sermon he breached the topic of arriving at an AHA moment in your life, where you realize that whatever is going on in your life, has a purpose in your life i.e. flat tires!

     As I was driving home from church that afternoon, my mind starting pondering what was my AHA moment in life? I knew life had been challenging over the past few years, but what was I supposed to do with all of that to help others? It was hard enough to see how any of the laundry list of life events would help me let alone being able to use them to help others. That's when flat tires hit me right in the face and my AHA light bulb flared up like a flood light in the darkest of nights. Flat tires put you on the side of the road, delaying you from continuing your journey, and keeping you from reaching your destination. Wouldn't you say the same is true in a divorce. A man and woman marry, have children, a home, a life together, and then "Ka-pow" flat tire. Divorce puts the plan God has for your life as a member of that family on the side of the road. Disease, traveling down the highways and bi-ways of life and all of a sudden the check up at the doctor's office turns into a battle for your life. Sound like that could be a flat tire? Well that's just a couple of examples, not mine, but examples nonetheless of what flat tires are in life. You get the picture, so what do we do when we get a flat tire? We either sit on the side of the road or we get out and change the tire, fix the flat, or call our emergency road side service for assistance. Same steps in life. 

      I could go on and on, but I won't. I won't because I wrote a book that goes into all of that, the name of the book, well of course is "How to Fix a Flat Tire" Getting back on life's highway and reaching your true destination. Let's just say, the figurative flat tires I have faced and overcome have made me the man I am today. Thanks be unto God for His omnipotent vision and plan for this life that He gave me to live. The book has not been published, maybe someday, but it was the impetus for Flat Tire Ministries and my self named title "Mr. Fix-a-Flat". 

      I tell you all of this for one reason and one reason only. I often say that you are either just coming out of a crisis in your life, in one at the current time, or are headed for one as you head down life's highway. Those crises are prime examples of figurative flat tires I have been confronted with over the past seven years. My flat tires could have sidelined me and kept me from getting back on with my life, but I chose to get out of the car, roll up my sleeves, and get a little dirty fixing my flat. Trust me when I tell you that my literal flat tires were caused by everything from a screw for number 16 to a shard of metal way back with flat tire four or five. Figurative flat tires are much the same, whatever it is that has you stuck in life sitting on the freeway waiting on AAA to reach you for some support that flat tire will hinder your progress in life if you don't address it and put some effort into fixing the root problem yourself. Triple A can't fix your life problems, but there is someone that can.

     The important thing to remember as you start to think about your life's problems as flat tires, is that God is with you through it all. He won't give you more than you can handle, and with your flat tire he will give you a helper to assist you during your times of challenge. We are given that assurance in Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." I can attest to this scripture. I have lived out a number of extremely flat tires in my life and I have also learned a great deal about fixing flat tires, both literal and figurative. Things happen in your life for a reason, you have a purpose to fulfill, and sometimes that purpose is cast among a calamity. Our job is to turn to God for His strength and then set ourselves to the task of fixing that flat tire and getting back on the journey to where God has intended you to serve! I'm thankful for my flat tires, not exactly waiting on number 17, but completely capable of facing it and fixing it with my Lord and Savior turning the lug wrench! 

Your flat tires are yours, set a plan and fix them so you can get back on the highway of life. 

Coach Carter