For the next month, we'll be looking into devotions based around my learning how to work with my car - and how they all taught me something new about myself. It has a different format than the normal Peace and Praise. I hope you all still enjoy it all the same!
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| Not my baby, but a look alike. The Colby AKA Brown Blur |
What happened: Broken Starter
One Homecoming weekend, during my Indiana days, I had to
be at work. In small town, liberal arts college employee life, having a weekend to yourself is completely atypical. I stretched, took a few moments to myself to get prepared for the day, wanting to orient myself before getting to the big game, often used as a time for recruitment and networking with the student's families. I went outside and The Colby, as my students affectionately called my car, was sitting there just waiting for the day. I got in, unlocked the door and
sat down, ready to get into the laziness of my day. Instead of the legato vroom that typically freely accompanied the turn, there was
a staccato click. I tried it a couple of times, to know
avail. Surely it must have been my
battery.
Thinking I must have been careless, I got my friend to come out and together we tried to start my car, first considering jumping it. After wiggling it a few times, the car eventually started. I still had a few minutes to get to work and other places so I took it straight to one of the body shops - a small family own garage on the main road in the town, whose gas prices were about $.50 above the rest. I met the owner, after some discussion, he checked it out. The body shop told me it was the starter, a piece inside the ignition that makes it turn on. They can get worn down, and when they do, they cause a "clicking" noise. They also tole me it would cost about 1500 dollars to fix. I should have known that could be the case since the gas price outside of the place was at least .50 higher than any of the other gas in town.
After a day or so, I went looking in the phone book and talked with a few friends on campus and someone recommended me to Crazy Jim. The thought was scary since I lived in a small Indiana town. Crazy Jim could have been a confederate redneck from the backwoods - I was just a little uneasy. Just when I found myself doubting the situation, I thought back to what was stronger - assumption or my refusal to pay $1500 for anything concerning my already 10+ year old car. That was half of what I paid for it to begin with!
On Monday, I took my car into Crazy Jim. When I came up to his shop, I had to first drive down a gravel alleyway to get to his shop. I approached and saw cars all over the place. Already, I started to feel like I was at home. Out comes Crazy Jim, a short, slender man with shoulder length black and gray hair that wasn’t really combed, which didn’t matter since it was hidden under a sun faded navy blue, oil stained hat and an equally scraggly low salt and pepper beard. And he was smoking a cigarette. He reminded me of my uncles when they got into the groove of their carpentry work and has to hanging by the lip, threatening to fall at any moment, though staying on by some invisible string.
I introduced myself to Jim and told him my problem. He asked me to pop my hood and for me to turn on the car. I did and when I got the same staccato notes, he reported the same thing that the other garage did – the starter. He told me though, I wouldn’t only need to pay about $300 dollars for the part and the installation. I had to ask of course, why on earth the discrepancy in the price. He told me that the part was hard to find, but it still wouldn’t cost that much.
I went back to work that afternoon and worked easily knowing there was someone under the hood who knew what they were doing. It was the start of a beautiful relationship.
Sometimes we start things or at least try to and realized that it is not the direction you’re supposed to go into. We often will abandon the idea complete, giving up, to some degree on a particular notion. I kept trying because I realized I needed to try a few options rather than accept just any place to take care of my car. Isaiah 30:21 reads, "And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." We have to follow our instincts and move forward with discernment when we are presented with such issues. Chances are we'll be blessed with something more as a result of it.
When my starter got fixed, I also received mechanic relationship my car could appreciate and utilize until the day I would depart Indiana.
Thinking I must have been careless, I got my friend to come out and together we tried to start my car, first considering jumping it. After wiggling it a few times, the car eventually started. I still had a few minutes to get to work and other places so I took it straight to one of the body shops - a small family own garage on the main road in the town, whose gas prices were about $.50 above the rest. I met the owner, after some discussion, he checked it out. The body shop told me it was the starter, a piece inside the ignition that makes it turn on. They can get worn down, and when they do, they cause a "clicking" noise. They also tole me it would cost about 1500 dollars to fix. I should have known that could be the case since the gas price outside of the place was at least .50 higher than any of the other gas in town.
After a day or so, I went looking in the phone book and talked with a few friends on campus and someone recommended me to Crazy Jim. The thought was scary since I lived in a small Indiana town. Crazy Jim could have been a confederate redneck from the backwoods - I was just a little uneasy. Just when I found myself doubting the situation, I thought back to what was stronger - assumption or my refusal to pay $1500 for anything concerning my already 10+ year old car. That was half of what I paid for it to begin with!
On Monday, I took my car into Crazy Jim. When I came up to his shop, I had to first drive down a gravel alleyway to get to his shop. I approached and saw cars all over the place. Already, I started to feel like I was at home. Out comes Crazy Jim, a short, slender man with shoulder length black and gray hair that wasn’t really combed, which didn’t matter since it was hidden under a sun faded navy blue, oil stained hat and an equally scraggly low salt and pepper beard. And he was smoking a cigarette. He reminded me of my uncles when they got into the groove of their carpentry work and has to hanging by the lip, threatening to fall at any moment, though staying on by some invisible string.
I introduced myself to Jim and told him my problem. He asked me to pop my hood and for me to turn on the car. I did and when I got the same staccato notes, he reported the same thing that the other garage did – the starter. He told me though, I wouldn’t only need to pay about $300 dollars for the part and the installation. I had to ask of course, why on earth the discrepancy in the price. He told me that the part was hard to find, but it still wouldn’t cost that much.
I went back to work that afternoon and worked easily knowing there was someone under the hood who knew what they were doing. It was the start of a beautiful relationship.
Sometimes we start things or at least try to and realized that it is not the direction you’re supposed to go into. We often will abandon the idea complete, giving up, to some degree on a particular notion. I kept trying because I realized I needed to try a few options rather than accept just any place to take care of my car. Isaiah 30:21 reads, "And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." We have to follow our instincts and move forward with discernment when we are presented with such issues. Chances are we'll be blessed with something more as a result of it.
When my starter got fixed, I also received mechanic relationship my car could appreciate and utilize until the day I would depart Indiana.
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