The Camry doesn't look like much by today's standards. It has quirks, like the front passenger door not opening from the outside, but it gets us where we need to go. From Texas to North Carolina to Utah and back to Texas, or to work or church, we've put some miles on that car. A car that runs reliably is a blessing.
This past Spring Brian was about to pull into a parking space downtown before a concert and a motorcyclist rear-ended him. They estimated the damage done to our Camry at around $2,000. We spent one hundred dollars on a new light, used some of the change for new brakes, a couple new tires, and an alignment, and decided to live with the Camry's new 'look' and pocket the rest of the dough. A car wreck with no injuries? Unexpected cash for an unemployed family? Those are nice blessings!
(You better believe Brian laughed to himself as he drove this sweet ride to pick up Elliott from a classmate's birthday party in his million-dollar-homes-on-the-golf-course neighborhood last weekend!)
The first time it rained after the rear-ending, I asked Brian to go check the trunk to see if it was dry inside. If you'll notice in the picture, the trunk lid doesn't quite line up like it should. He said it was still dry. That's a blessing!
Fast forward to the end of a week of torrential downpours we had here in Houston in October. A week when we weren't so faithful about parking in the garage...I get in the car to run an errand and it smells TERRIBLE inside! I popped the trunk and it was filled with water. Apparently, it does leak! 'Hmmmmmmmm maybe that's what has been making that sloshing sound when we make sharp turns,' I thought.
I didn't have the energy to deal with the stinky car until the next afternoon. After a couple failed attempts at finding a shop vac to borrow, I headed out to tackle the project armed with a small plastic cup. I opened up the trunk, took out the black stiff fabric pad, which was sopping wet, and proceeded to bail out cups of water all around the spare tire and on the side where the jack lives (which was all foreign to me, I'd never looked under the black pad!). After awhile I realized it would be more efficient, and easier, to scoop the water out if I removed the spare tire. When I did, I saw a couple rubber circles in the bottom of trunk. I thought, "Oooo a plug?! Sweet!" But I could not lift out the rubbery circles so I figured maybe it wasn't a plug after all and kept bailing water. Lily came out to inspect my progress, took one look in the trunk, and said, "Too bad there's not a plug!" and walked away. I had been bailing water by the cupful for about 20 minutes and now with more determination, I pulled at those rubbery black circles. With all my might I got my fingertips just under the lip of the circle and then heard a trickle. It was a plug! My daughter's a genius! But now my shoes were getting wet so I spread my legs as I held that plug up and listened to the water trickle out....a new aural sensation for me, my car was peeing between my legs!! ha! Laughing at your own car misfortune? That's a blessing!
The car dried, the smell went away, we vigilantly park in the garage now, and when I wonder why other's people's blessings look like a shiny new car, with all parts of the bumper present, I remind myself that this is what a blessing looks like for me right now, and I'm so grateful that we have it!
1 comment:
This was an awesome post! Thanks for the good perspective. Blessings come in different shapes and sizes.
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