Shed a tear for Max...and God is so good

My car, Max, has served me faithfully over the past 5 years or so. He's been in and out of the shop frequently, but always because of circumstances outside of him (i.e. other people hitting me). Today though was the first time something has just broken. It was an...interesting experience, dotted with many examples of God's grace throughout the situation.

So I'm driving home from work. I'm less than a mile away from CHF on San Fernando Road at rush hour accelerating and going about 35 mph. If you've never driven stick, you may not understand what happened next, and i'll probably do a bad job of explaining this, but here goes. i go to shift from 3rd into 4th, and all of the sudden it's like my stick shift comes free. It doesn't physically come out of the car, but it's clearly detached in some way from how it's supposed to be. i frantically shift from one gear to the next, but to no avail. It just moves freely and moves every which way. The car goes into neutral at this point and i decide i better coast over to the side of the road. By God's grace there weren't many cars around me at the time, and i make it to the side of the road. i turn off my car and start it up again in the vain hope that everything would start working. But it was a vain hope indeed. So now i'm blocking traffic, sitting in a car that will start but that can't go anywhere because the stick shift is broken. I get out, call my dad, then call AAA. By God's grace my dad decided to buy the premium AAA deal where they will tow you an unlimited amount of miles, as opposed to a measly 7 with the normal deal. A call is put in for a tow truck, and i'm standing on the side of the road waiting for it.

Being in such a humbling position, it was interesting to observe how people reacted to my situation. 99% of the people that drove by went on but stared as they passed. i can't blame them; that's pretty much what i do when i see people with car trouble. Only one car rolled down their window and asked if i needed help. And then there was that nice young man that drove by and just yelled "PUSH YOUR CAR OUT OF THE WAY!" So helpful, so kind. Oh and one of my coworkers stopped to make sure i was okay and offered me a ride home. i would've preferred driving back with him, but i figured i should stay with Max and direct the tow truck to my mechanic's shop.

Anyway then the tow truck came. At first the driver was in a really bad mood because AAA dispatch had given him a wrong address for my location or something, but he cooled down after a bit. He was an interesting character. He's one of 6 (or was it 8) people in all of Los Angeles that's been working his job for over 25 years. He did most of the talking on the drive to Simi, and told me all sorts of random stories. We eventually made it to my mechanic, he saw it was a safe area to leave me, and so he let me and Max off. My dad picked me up a short time later.

Here's the crazy thing my mom said. Or, a couple crazy things my mom said. First, i didn't think about this until she said it, "Good thing you weren't on the freeway when it happened." Oh mylanta is that true. By God's grace this happened on a surface street and not the freeway, where i would've been driving much faster and i wouldn't have been able to move over to the side as quickly or easily. When i think even for just 30 seconds about how bad the situation could've been had the stick shift broken just 4 tenths of a mile (literally) and 5 minutes later, all i can do is praise and thank God for extending so much grace that that didn't happen.

Okay and on a lighter note, we're talking over dinner and my mom says,

"Well i'm just so glad you're safe. i pray for you and all my kids every morning, but this morning i just happened to pray in particular for your safety. and i also prayed..."
(at this point i'm thinking it was some cool God thing where she prayed specifically for safety in my car or something, but no, what she says next is...)
"that if there is some young man out there for you that God would be preparing him for you." WHAT THE CRAP?! We're discussing what was easily the most stressful event of my day and she brings THAT up?? It was just a little depressing because my parents have literally never mentioned anything like that to me and i guess i just thought the issue was off their radar. i mean we've talked about their marriage, other people's marriages, and marriage in general, but they definitely are not the parents that nag me about that sort of thing (something i couldn't be more thankful for). ohhh Mommykins.

Anyway moving on, the whole experience with Max was a good test of patience, humility, and trust. i'm so thankful that God is steadfast and faithful and good ALL the time, even in the midst of small trials like the one i went through today.

The whole experience was oddly exhilarating too. i'll flesh that out in my next blog. But now it's time to sleep.

"Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unscrutable His ways." Rom. 11.33