Yesterday was what I will call a very cantankerous day.

Samuel Bowman

It began when my mechanic told me the part to fix my truck would not be arriving when they say.

I was tempted to push my cantankerous day back in line by becoming cantankerous myself.  Cantankerous means bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative. The origin of the word means to spread corruption through the body, mind or spirit. That was what my day was like yesterday. Yesterday did not do what I wanted it to do. Yesterday was a very cantankerous day.

I thought I don’t care what happens. I’m on the road today! I have places to be. I thought, I’ll show my day how cantankerous I can be! So, I got into my set of backup equipment. The front tire was flat. When I went to air it up the valve stem was completely missing. Where on earth did it go?

I determined to deal with this cantankerous day, that wanted to go its own way. So I decided to stay positive. I’d show it who was boss. I’d just take the tire off and drive it to the tire shop in my car. Not a hour will be lost I thought. I will not hold a grudge! But, not a single lug nut would budge.

This was a very, very cantankerous day.

I called the tire shop to see if a repair truck could come out with a new tire. Sure, they said, in about three hours. A little smoke came out of my ears.

So I called eight tow trucks until one could come right away. I rode to the tire shop in the tow truck, with my arms crossed. This was indeed a cantankerous day.

I sat in the Awesome Tire Shack for two hours while they changed the tire on the truck so it could take me to the other truck that was waiting for the part. Now I had plenty of time – to just sit, and think about my cantankerous day.

Finally, three hours, two tires and six hundred dollars later, I was back on my way to the repair shop to pick up the first truck, which had been waiting for the part, and found it now had a flat tire. The enemy was dangling his bate. Back to the Really Awesome Slow Tire Shack for another two hour wait.

This was a really, really, very, very cantankerous day.

Just when I had regained my patience my wife called and said, “Honey, the back tire on my car is low. What do I do? I need to be on my way.” The evil bad-year rubber tire demon was after my day!

At six in the evening, instead of six in the morning, I was finally on my way. I drove till three in the morning to make up time that had been robbed by my very cantankerous day.

At at about nine in the morning I stepped out of my truck and pried my eyes open in the bright morning son. I thought, “I have won! I defeated my very cantankerous day. I had not lost my temper, or yelled, or threaten or chewed anyone out. This will be a very awesome day.” Things are about to change, I’ll have some good luck. Then l looked down and saw a very big pool of oil laying under my truck.

This was going to be another a very cantankerous day. So I said, “God, what is the deal?” He said, “My son, when life gives you more than you can stand, then simply kneel.

This indeed, will be a very, very, very awesome great day!