Blessings Revealed

The morning started bright and early. Had to take the kids to the dentist for a 9am appointment, just a check-up, nothing major. We left a little early because I needed to get gas before we went. I should have gotten it the night before, but I was just too tired from moving furniture all day.

Anyway... we had plans to go to Target after the dentist so we could pick out a new bathroom set for the kids bathroom. We went in and looked but they didn't have the set we were hoping for. So... we thought we'd try the one closer to the house. On the way out we decided to get something quick to eat in the snack bar since we hadn't eaten all day.

On the way out to the car I noticed that our tire looked a little low. The closer I got I realized it wasn't just low, it was flat. I noticed a screw sticking out of the edge of my tire. Bummer! I guess it had plenty of time to go flat while we were eating. I consider that the first blessing of the day.

Had we not gone to Target... I would have jumped right on the freeway. Then... if they would have had what I was looking for I would have done the same... jumped on the freeway to go home. Sitting there eating a quick meal gave the tire time to go flat. I was stuck in the parking lot of Target rather than being stranded on the freeway with my kids. I consider that a blessing.

And that's not all...

My two youngest kids are 10 and 6 years old. This was maybe the second time in their lives that we have had a flat tire. Other than that... being stranded in a parking lot or on the side of the road is foreign to them. I was amazed when it hit me. How blessed we are to have a nice, good running car. How could I not appreciate that?

Let me give you my top clunker stories...

1. This one's kinda funny... to me. When I was in the 2nd grade, we lived in California. The grocery store was only a couple of blocks away. We had this little red Hornet. I don't know if they even exist anymore. Anyway... we were at the store one day and as we were climbing into the car to leave... my mom's door FALLS OFF. My mom had to drive home with one hand holding the car door on. How she did that I'll never know. I'm sure it was pretty heavy. My mom may have been tiny... but she could move anything she had too. Still does. How sad... it makes me laugh every time I think about it.

2. Then in my teenage years. We had a Volkswagen Beetle that had ignition problems. To solve that... we had an ignition switch installed under the back seat of the car. We had to keep a long stick in the car at all times because if we drove alone there was no way of starting the car.

3. I owned a Gremlin... yes, I'll admit that. The back window was a hatch back kinda thing. It had these two 'arms' that would hold the window open or 'up' so I could put groceries in the back. One day one of the 'arms' came loose, the window came down... but the 'arm' wasn't down all the way... so the window was smashed into tiny little pieces. And lots of them. So riding in car seats in the windy back seat wasn't fun for my little ones. Especially since we didn't have air or heat.

4. I had a little blue car that I had bought for only $200. I don't know what I expected from it and I don't remember what was wrong with it. My only and probably last memory of it was pushing it out of a busy intersection when I was 8 months pregnant.

5. Well, then I moved up in the world. I bought a car for $600. Boy, was I impressed. But not for long. This car would completely die... I mean EVERYTHING would quit... with no warning at all. I'd be driving along and then... nothing. It was kind of like the movies when the UFO's come around and kill all the electronics and stuff. Everyone told me it was the alternator, the starter, the belts, and so on. Finally found out it was an oil leak... dripping on the alternator making it stop. Cost $120 to replace a $6 part. Shortly after, it had a radiator leak. I put 'stop leak' in to seal it... bad advice... killed the engine. Yep.

6. Ok... so you know I had a pity party after the last one. I was now taking a bus to work. I had to leave 2 hours early to get to work on time. I got off at 2:20am and the residential buses didn't run until 6am. Not fun! God saved me on at least two occasions from people who offered me a ride home so I didn't have to wait for the bus. I got myself into situations that I should have never been in.

Because of this, a good friend, well meaning, bought me a car at an auction. This one was only $500. Sadly, it only lasted a day. On the way home from work, at 3am, in the middle of the desert, in the bad part of town... it died. I had to run home in the dark. I don't think I've ever run so fast. The car? I sold it to a junkyard along with #5 after I was told the engine was blown.

Countless car troubles... yet, more reasons to count my blessings.

Today we have a good running car. We have the luxury of air conditioning and heating. All of my kids fit in the car at the same time. It doesn't overheat. It doesn't leak. And it's not ugly. Could I be any more blessed?

Thanks for reading,
Mary Ann :)