How many people do you know that would be thankful for paying out $360 + for vehicle repairs? I'm going away tommorow with the youth groups to an all night event and thought I'd better get the van in to be serviced before I went. I asked the mechanic to take a peek under the front end to make sure everything was ok. I told him not to mention the tires - I knew they were BAD and I was leaving one garage to go to another to get them replaced. He later came back and told me that the tie rod end had to be replaced - sooner than later and he told me the van was not safe to be on the road because of the tires. They weren't going to let me leave there becaus eof the tires (they tried so hard to sell me some tires). Anyway, they have a "deal" on tires this week (buy 3 get the 4th free). I don't need four I only need 2. Anyway, I went elsewhere and got the work done. DH was floored at the cost, but when you consider the cost of a potential funeral. We were sitting down eating supper and I was thinking God uses everyone to teach us something, I wonder what He's trying to teach me here...Maybe I should be looking at all of this as a blessing that I didn't have an accident while traveling to work an hour away... What a blessing! I'm not upset about the cost...just blessed that no one was hurt by a potential hazard/accident. Sorry, just wanted to share that! Brenda
Brenda, do you mind if I use your thread to tell my 'good thing out of a bad thing' story? I was thinking the other day that my husband and I have been together 15 years in'05. As I looked back on how we met, I see God's hand in there, working it all out. In November of '89 A guy I really cared about broke my heart. I was fed up with being hurt, so I prayed to God and said I quit- I refuse to deal with anymore guys and I will wait for who He brings me. In December of '89 my husband was hired at the factory where I worked. In January of '90 he was placed in a part of my area. In February/March of '90 I was placed in that same area, and had to deal with him directly for quality control issues!! To make the hearts and flowers short :wink: , I would catch him watching me each morning when I would leave work, then finally in April of '90 he asked me out. ( He never offered to scrape my windows any of those frosty mornings, though!) He and my son ( who was three at the time) flipped for each other and we got maried in March of '96. I come from a long line of females who choose the wrong men. I believe when I gave up and trusted God to bring me who He wanted me to be with, I was greatly rewarded. I might wish he'd take ahold of a cleaning rag once in a while, but I always know where he is, and the kids have what they need. Hope you all don't mind my story!
I enjoyed reading your posts. I am hoping to find the good in my bad thing right now. I have been having a hard time dealing with the possible court battle over our five yr old daughter (adoption). I honestly think God is really working in our lives right now. I am humbled now as I think back over the last couple weeks. There were moments I acted in a way that was less then appropriate - I was angry, very angry. My prayers reflected that anger. I think its ok to be honest in your prayers, but I was placing blame. I have prayed for peace and God has granted me that. I now pray for God to show me the lesson to be learned by this. Right now I appreciate my children more. I am trying to be more patient. I am thankful that God put it on my heart to homeschool my children. It is extra time I have to spend with each of them, to watch them grow and learn. I am thankful for every day I have with all my children. I will not waste another day crying and worrying what tomorrow holds. I am glad I have today.
Brenda and Crystal, I've been praying for both of your situations. It's nice to hear a good report (spiritually if nothing else) from each of you. Well, like Becky, if you don't mind, I'll add my "seeing God in my life" story..... Much like Becky, I reached a point on August 5th of '95 where I had fallen flat on my face trying to find the right guy and I gave that area of my life over to God (again.... :roll: ). But that time was different. I really meant it. I had reached a point where it was "better to marry than to burn" and I needed God to intervene for me. Well, two days later (on a Monday) I started a new job. It was one of those "till I find something better jobs" cuz my last one made me ill from stress, etc. Anyway, I was dreading going in since it was a small factory and I'd never worked in a factory before and to top it off I only went there cuz a cousin of mine was working there and I requested to be put on her floor AND.....she quit the Friday before I was to start!!!! :roll: WELLLLLL.....I got to my post and started work and I could hear a couple guys behind me talking about one of their former relationships. Now, I was a really jealous person who would never have wanted to listen to an old girlfriend story but I found myself absorbed by this one guy's voice. It was really almost a premonition at that point of a relationship with him in the future. Well, the next thing I know I hear him say that the last time he saw her was around his birthday at the end of March so I turned around (seeing him for the first time) and said "when's your birthday?". He told me and it was the same as mine! We never stopped talking to each other the rest of the day and by noon the next day we were engaged.....and by that Saturday we were married! That was over nine years ago and thinking back to that whole situation makes me think of how God arranged it all so far in advance for us.....and it also is something that has kept me committed to my marriage during the really bad times a year ago: God brought us together. He wants me to be with this man and I would be a fool to doubt what God has arranged and purposed for me in my life. Brenda and Crystal, I hope you can draw some encouragement and endurance from this post. Sometimes we just don't get it.....but God does!
Did I read that right? You met him Monday and married him Saturday?! Did my coffee not kick in properly?? Like you, I think my husband is who God wants me to have. I feel confused, though, because there are some things in this house that I know are not godly, and it's things my husband does. I'm trying to teach Jeannie the Ten Commandments, but it's not easy when her daddy breaks the one about the Lord's name. Also, it's a total one way street where the house and kids are concerned. When I complain I'm ' b----'in at' him. So, on one hand I'm thankful for this dependable, decent guy, but on the other hand it's like, okay, how does this fit the plan?! :? Brooke, KWIM?
Your coffee is just fine! Yep, met on Monday and his dad (a pastor at the time) married us that Saturday. But I never said the whole time has been a bed of roses. :wink: We have both grown so much since we've been together. I've often said that if I hadn't gotten pregnant right away I woulda left my hubby within a month! :shock: But, the Lord knew what would keep us together to get us to where we are today. Hubby used to swear all the time. He was prejudiced, proud, angry, controlling and the list goes on and on. BUT.....I was controlling, deceitful, jealous, proud, and complained about everything known to man. So, we both had growing to do. But I will tell you this: nothing changed for the better until I realized that I could only change me. Nagging only made him more stubborn. I had to be humbled and broken before the Lord and then things began to look up. Now, I can't hardly believe that those two young people in our wedding picutres (in blue jeans, no less :lol: ) are the same two people sneaking kisses in the kitchen "just because". I hope your marriage undergoes the same dramatic transformation that ours did. Also remember that there has to be conflict for growth to take place. Another recommendation I would make is a series by Dr. Gary Chapman (the guy who wrote The Five Love Languages) called Toward a Growing Marriage. There is a book by the same title, but we went through the video series and workbooks in about 6 sessions. By the end of the series you will have uncovered all of your hidden issues and had them dealt with. It freed us to start over after 8 years with a clean slate. Wow! What a feeling! We both said we could literally beathe more deeply after that. I hope things get better in your home, Becky. I'm sure that we can all sympathize to some degree and we are rooting for you!
Well, I guess I'll have to put my say in. It's been a very stressful two weeks here. It started off when DH and I decided to go to the "Marriage Mayday" in Washington, DC. We made a reservation at a B&B in Bethesda, Mariland, got my MIL to watch the kids, and a sub for DH's class. We left early Thursday, planning on driving to Bethesda and staying the night, then taking the subway into DC on Friday, driving home Friday and picking up the kids on Saturday AM in time for soccer games. Well, that was the PLAN! We had a lovely trip, stopping at Cabela's, in Wheeling, WVA for an hour. That's a hunting-type store, and DH loved it! We arrived in Bethesda early, and right away got a little confused with the directions. We stopped at this parking lot where there was a parking place that you just pulled through, not one you back up. (THAT'S IMPORTANT, but we didn't know it at the time!) We got directions, and took off down the road. No sooner did we start, when our car started REALLY acting up! It wouldn't shift up to a higher gear, and when it finally did, it made TERRIBLE noise! I was terrified! He turned back and we stopped at a gas station, again just pulling up to where we didn't have to back up. The guy told us that it was probably the transmission, and sent us to an AAMCO dealer. Boy, I was praying all the way there, terrified we were going to come apart on the road! We got there, parked, and went in to talk to the guy. He asked if we could back up. Well, we didn't need to the last two times, so we tried, and we had NO REVERSE!!! To make a long story short, we never made it to DC. The car was going to cost over $2000 to fix, which was more than it was worth. We ended up donating it to a place for the handicapped people. The blessings: 1) It didn't break down on the road somewhere, but when we had reached our destination. 2) We "just happened" to park in drive-through places when we weren't able to go in reverse. 3) We were staying at a B&B, and when we called from the AAMCO dealer, they were willing to come and pick us up from there. A hotel wouldn't have done that! They also drove us to the car rental place on Friday. 4) We were able to get a car to rent one-way back to Columbus. It's not easy to get a car to rent one-way, and this place "just happened" to get a car recently that it could send one-way. My mom lent me her car for the few days when I REALLY NEEDED one. We were to return it to her on Saturday. Before we went out there, I went to the library with Rachael. It was raining. On the way home, the car in front of me stopped, and when i went to stop, the car hydroplaned into the car ahead of us. No one was hurt (most important!), and the husband of the car I hit was SO nice! He didn't get upset, and had a WONDERFUL attitude about the whole thing. The insurance company ended up totaling his car. Then (blessing again!) we got three checks in the mail, totaling $986 from where my DSS had braces, and we had (we think!) overpaid somehow. We had recieved something in the mail about 6 months ago about "unclaimed finds", and filled it out. The check was enough for us to buy a used car from my mom's best friend. So that's where we are now! Stressful as it was, I can see how God was protecting us, etc., and am thankful for that. I think in just about every situation we have to chose to look for God's hand or chose to complain. If we chose to find the bad and complain with everything, our lifes would sure be misery!
Hey, Jackie~ I have a similar transmission story! I had a Home & Garden Party that was about 1 1/2 hours away, so I took Ashley along for company on the ride. Well, we drove past the hostess's house and went into a small town to turn around- I pulled into a car dealership, put the van in reverse- nothing! Ashley panicked! But, it did go forward- just enough for us to get back to the hostess's house, and that was that! No more! I was so thankful that nothing happened to us out on the highway on the way there. And, also very thankful for that AAA membership that we pay for every year (sometimes I think I'm their biggest customer!)- they towed the van all the way home and it didn't cost me one cent! The van was in the garage for 2 weeks before we finally got it back. I went to drive it that evening and the overdrive light came on. I couldn't believe it! So, back to the garage it went! Only to find out that the transmission company sent the wrong thing! And, would you believe they would have to rebuild a new one and it would take over a week to get it in?! Well, at this point, I'm getting very frustrated because I want my van! So, I made a call to the Ford dealership. Turns out we ended up getting a full refund from the other company and got the new transmission through Ford- and ended up getting over $200 back! Yeah! All this on top of a $3,000 dental surgery for Gracie. There went the savings account! But, another thing to be thankful for- at least we had it. I love to see God working in all of our lives! Heidi
Well, I think AAA is wonderful! Twice now, we've needed cars towed (two different cars!)- both times they towed it almost 100 miles (that their limit for free towing)- but that's one way. Several times they've had to come and unlock my car because we've locked the keys inside! (Yes, we do that!) And, a few times I've had to have them come out to jump batteries. The nice thing is that now they will honor it for any car that I am in (used to be you had to register your vehicle); so, if I'm with a friend and we need something, they will come and do it. Well worth the money to be safe, Heidi
I once heard they were slow to respond, but I forget the cicumstances. It could have also been the opinion of the person I was talking toi, but I really forget the whole thing. I'll look into it
Well, sometimes it does take them awhile to get to where you are. That depends on your location, and where the closest AAA service center is. I know I've never waited over an hour for them to get to me. And, really, where can you go when your keys are locked in the car or your battery is dead anyway?! Also, I forgot to mention that you can get free maps, tour guides, and discounts to alot of attractions. I just think it's well worth the money to be safe and taken care of on the road. Heidi
Thanks, Heidi. I'll look into it and see how it goes. I have another praise- Since September I've had this pain in my hip. It was so bad at first I couldn't walk properly. I think I messed it up overdoing a therapy exercise. It is some better, but it's still there. I've been for x-rays, MRI, and nothing conclusive has come up. I have a December app. with an Orthopedic. I asked my doctor if I could go back to the P.T. who helped me last July with this same leg. I have had pain in this leg, a different pain, for 18 years. I was in therapy for 4 weeks and it disappeared! I forget all the tests I had to find the source of the pain. I thought sure the doctor would give me a raft about going to therapy, but she didn't!! I go there next Wednesday! I'm soooo hopeful this pain is on the way out!!
I hadn't planned on it, but I can update the problem with my hip- all the pain is gone!! Therapy took it all away! Now I have another praise to tell you about. Maybe a week ago now, I fell down our stairs. I was carrying bedclothes and got too close to a pile of books-BAM! Down the steps I went. Thankfully, nothing cracked, broke or even swelled up. Just a little sore for a few days. Bless my dog, he came over and stayed with me until I got my bearings and was able to get up. Of course, my husband wasn't home and both kids were asleep. Thankfully they were asleep! These books were piled there so the guy could clean our carpets, and I should have found a better place for them. Dummy.
