Three Things

There is a saying that things happen in threes. I’m not sure what that’s all about, but I think it means that bad things happen in threes. Based on what I just went through, I think it might be true!

My wife and I finally got to take our first vacation in four years. We landed on the island of Kauai last week and the trip started out great. Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, and a beautiful golf course nearby.  Unfortunately, four days in things took a turn for the worse.

First off, I got sick and came down with a really bad cough, and ended up at Urgent Care with a viral infection. Second, I also somehow managed to lose my wallet when we went shopping, including all our money, credit cards, debit cards, driver license, etc. That put me in near panic mode because my wife has the same credit and debit cards as me, so cancelling our cards meant no access to money whatsoever. In addition, without a driver’s license I wouldn’t even be able to board a plane to fly home. And if that’s not enough, while feeling sick and stressing out about the lost wallet, I also managed to back into a volcanic rock wall and scratch the heck out of our rental car. Three things gone wrong for sure!

Obviously, if you have read any of my Monday Messages, you know that I’m a Christian and a fairly positive person most of the time. But I have to admit, I was really depressed about this string of bad luck and not quite sure how we were going to be able to enjoy the rest of our vacation. So I found a quiet place, sat down, and lifted up a short prayer. But I decided not to pray for help. Instead, I decided that I should let God know that I was going to be okay, no matter what happened to me, because of my connection to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And as soon as I said that I realized that God is three things too, and all of a sudden things happening in “threes” sounded pretty good to me.

A day later, my super smart wife decided to call the Kauai Police Department to check on my wallet. Lo and behold, a local woman had just turned in my wallet with the money, credit cards, and everything fully intact. When I arrived and the police gave me her name and address, I immediately drove to her home and gave her a reward for her honesty. She was temporarily disabled, out of work, and low on money, so she was really happy to receive the reward. And that got me thinking about a quote I read by Dr. Seuss. “When something bad happens, you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.” I’m convinced now that things happening in “threes” is not such a bad thing!

Okay boys, 

Get yourselves paired up in threes!

~ Yogi Berra