Orange Light of Death

James 4:15 came alive to me in a whole new way yesterday. The day started out like every Thursday of my life. I get up at 6:30am, change, brush my hair & teeth, grab some dried fruit & granola, and hopefully get in the car by 7:00am. Then drive to the allergists for my weekly shots (yes, weekly shots...) and then sit in the lobby for 30minutes just to make sure I don't react to the shots and die (ok well, dying is a little bit of an exaggeration). After my shots, I decided to run by Costco to get gas (3.69 a gallon! sad that, that is cheap) and then run a couple errands for work. It's about 10am and I'm driving home. I happened to glance down at my dashboard and saw a very terrifying sight...the Check Engine Soon light had come on. So, I turned around and headed to my mechanic. He thought that the light may have had something to do with getting gas and not putting the cap on correctly (I'm no mechanic so I'm not going to attempt to explain whatever it was that he told me.). He said to drive it for a little while and see if it went off. So, I drove home, worked for a little bit, ate lunch, and went out to see if the little orange light of death was still glowing on my dashboard. It was...sigh. So, I grab my book bag and iPod and get back in the car. I took it to the shop and walked to McAllisters (nasty food, but great iced tea!). This is about 1:30pm. Well, after sitting in McAllisters for 3 1/3 hours and wandering around Hobby Lobby for 30 minutes; my car was done. Gulp...the damage you ask? $550...sigh again. But it was a great day! Why?

• God reminded me that He could meet me in a doctors office while reading in Genesis!
• I didn't need new tires. Folks at Wal-Mart told me not to get new ones...my old ones still had tread and where fine! Yay for saving over $150.
• I was once again reminded of the amazing community of believers that I'm apart of. I love seeing folks from my church and getting hugs at 9:00am in the morning!
• Peace in the midst of anxiety. Knowing that whatever was wrong with my car, that it didn't take God by surprise and that He would take care of it.
• 3 1/2 hours writing in my journal, praying, and reading. When do I ever get that kind of a chunk of time with God?
• Not having to get up and get more tea. The kind folks at McAllisters kept coming to my table and refilling my glass for me!
• Finishing a book! I was able to finish Running Scared by Ed Welch.
• Having the money in my savings to pay for the car bill.
• The bill only coming to $550, it could have been a lot more.
• A flexible job. I was able to take part of the day off with no problem.

So what was wrong with the car...it needed a tune-up, spark plugs, spark wires, and a fuel system cleaning. One of the spark plugs and wires had broken (or whatever they do when they don't work), so my Grandma car (a.k.a. Ford Taurus) was running on 5 cylinders, not 6. I should get much better gas mileage now! So, it was a day of watching God provide when my little plan didn't happen. When life got turned upside down; watching God provide and bring peace and joy. It was a great day!!!

+photo by richd22003