Month: August 2014

People often shake their head as I tell of my misadventures. I don’t know why trouble seems to follow me, but it just does. I think it is because I like to have fun…. or something like that.  I was reminded of this event last week when I was at the lake and talking of an old friend who recently lost her father.   I guess this stuff has been happening to me my whole life.

Many years ago my parents had a Chevy Malibu.  It was one in a long line of large and rough cars.  My parents did not have a lot of cash to dump into cars because they were busy trying to afford private school, and so we drove what we could find.  It did not have to look pretty, it just had to run.

When I was fourteen or fifteen, I had a friend named Eva.  Eva was seven years older than me, and she could drive.  I would leave my house on foot, and she would leave her house on foot, and we would meet halfway at the hospital.  Then, we would return to my house, and my parents would let us borrow the Malibu!

We drove that thing everywhere.  Gas was still less than $1.00 a gallon, and Eva had a job, so off we went.  The Malibu had a trick though…. In order to start it, while Eva turned the key and pressed on the gas, I had to pull a specific set of wires under the dash.  Vrooom!  We were ready to go.

One particular day we were running about town we went to American TV.  I have no idea WHY we went there, but we were there for some reason.  After doing our shopping, we came back out and got into the Malibu.

You can imagine the shock when I realized that someone had completely torn up the front seat of the car!  The arm rests were messed up.  I looked in the back seat in horror.

Eva!  They ripped out the speakers!!!  There are empty holes with wires coming out in the back window!

Are you sure?

Eva!  There is garbage everywhere!  My dad is going to kill me!

Oh my!

Eva!  There is a hole in the back of this seat!

Lots of shrieks.

Eva!  They took my dad’s sunglasses!  He has had those FOREVER!  He’s going to kill us!

More panic

Oh. My. Word. EVA! They stole the glove compartment!

Um Tancy….What’s that over there?

We quickly grabbed our packages and walked to aisles to an identical Malibu.  This one had all its seats intact, no holes with protruding speaker wires because there were no speakers in the rear window, and my dad’s glasses in the seat.

We quickly drove away.

As my feet hit the floor this morning, my might was reeling with the things that I was planning on accomplishing.  I was had high hopes for the day.

The day headed south when I logged onto my bank account and saw a VERY negative balance.

Don’t panic it turned out to be bank errors, but this set the tone for the day!

Thing after little thing went not so right.

A few hours later when the mechanic called to talk to me about Betty, I felt like it hit a new low.

I was sure Betty needed a good alignment, and she would be good to go.  We dropped her off yesterday and I was happily stranded at home today.  When my phone rang early in the day, I did not think it was very good news, and I was right.

The mechanic informed me that they were unable to do the alignment because what Betty really needed was upper AND lower ball joints. ON BOTH SIDES.

and no… it would not be cheap.  $650 to be exact.

I sat down to catch my breath completely discouraged and despondent, and was comforted by this still small voice…

“I’ve got this.”

An amazing peace came over me, and I made my calls and went on the way trying to navigate the new waters I found myself in.

Knowing that He had it in control gave such peace, but I am ashamed to say how I limit Him with my own mind.  I kept waiting for a knock on the door and a random check to show up for exactly $650 or the wonderful mechanic to call back and offer to do it for only the cost of parts. I was working on the way I THOUGHT God should and would act.

Instead, God had already prepared the help.

My parents.

My dad took a few extra hours off work.  He figured out what he needed to do, and he went to work.  He has never done ball joints on a vehicle that size, but he jumped in with both feet. They bought us the parts, and he worked at it until he finished it.  I JUST got home and it is 11:00 p.m. and my dad has been at it since 12:30.   He has to be up before 5:00 tomorrow morning.

The old parts were rusted on and they were a nightmare to take off.   The new ones took a while to go back on.  It just was not an easy task.  It was a labor intensive task and he just kept working.

Thankfully, God prepared help for him too!  My uncle Roc immediately volunteered to help him.  AND when he needed to go home, Steve R (Who refuses to let me post the picture of him) helped until we put the last tool away.

So often, I put God in this box of how I think He should act to supply my needs.

He says He is faithful to supply my needs.  He gets to do it HIS way.  Sometimes those ways are set up in your own family, and God uses them to bless you.

Amazed and humbled.