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The Timing of Tyres
At the end of 2020, I was finding it difficult to feel the spirit of Christmas, so I listened to John Bytheway’s book, Born This Happy Morning1, for ideas. In one chapter, he shares an experience where he purchased tyres for a woman he had just met.
Brother Bytheway says he knows he may have forfeited blessings by telling us about his service, but he risks it to share the overflowing joy and satisfaction he still feels when he remembers that incident. It’s a reminder that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
That joy and satisfaction was exactly what was missing in my life. That Christmas, I believed this feeling would help me focus more on my Saviour, so in December, I fasted to become an instrument in Heavenly Father’s hands. I wanted to help someone—spontaneously or unexpectedly—so they would know He cares for them, and also that I might feel the peace and joy of the season. As I tried to explain to Heavenly Father what I was fasting for, I ultimately said the words: “You know, like John Bytheway and the tyres”.
I spent the following days actively looking for opportunities to serve, then, while I was enjoying a night out with a dear friend, she briefly mentioned she needed new tyres!
My jaw dropped and my heart swelled as I heard the Spirit clearly speak to me: “Sarah, here are your tyres and the answer to your fast.”
I maneuvered the conversation back to the tyres and discovered that while my friend and her husband knew their tyres had to be replaced soon, in recent days, they both felt an even more urgent need for new tyres.
I told her about my fast and that I felt that this was Heavenly Father’s answer to my prayers. I then asked if I could pay for their tyres.
My friend went silent for some time, and then she nodded. After several more emotional moments, she explained that she and her husband could not currently afford the tyres they needed, but they still followed the promptings they both had received and organised the new set. It turned out, the exact day that I was fasting for an experience, ‘you know, like John Bytheway and the tyres’, they were fasting for a way to be able to pay for theirs.
I can assure you I was not expecting the answer to my fast to be so literal! But how perfectly timed and miraculously specific was the Lord’s response to each of our prayers.
If this miracle ended here, it would still be a favourite hear-Him moment in my life. However, just two days after this beautiful family got new tyres, my friend called. I was unable to take her call, which I love, because it means I still have her voicemail on my phone explaining that earlier that day, as she was driving with her young children, in torrential rain, a car with no brake lights pulled dangerously into the traffic ahead and she had to slam on the brakes. They safely came to a halt, and she knew immediately that if they still had their old tyres, they would have run right into the car in front. She said it was a miracle and ended the call with, “So, thank you”.
To repeat what I heard Sister Joy D. Jones say, “I would never take credit for His sweet, perfect love. But oh, how grateful I am that He allows me to just be a piece of the puzzle!”2
Brother Bytheway says, “Today there is someone out there—a neighbor, a friend, a ward member—trying to move forward on really bad tires. They could have a blowout at any moment. Their tires could be emotional, spiritual or physical (or [as I too discovered] they could actually be tires).”3
To find and help each other, we can heed President Dallin H. Oaks’ reminder that, “Our hands are His hands when we hear Him and feel impressed to help one of His children.” He tells us: “When you get an impression, act upon it, however unusual it seems or however inadequate you feel in following it. Act upon it. There’s a reason. You may not know the reason, but blessings will follow to you and someone else if you hear Him.”4