Seriously...

These last 2 weeks have been something else. Even though we are preparing to sell our house and move out we are trying to maintain our normal lives. So, I'm still teaching dance and my husband is still attending his Masonic meetings as usual.

I've decided to dance with the group I teach when they dance on Sundays until I leave. I'm really going to miss them and miss dancing. So, I danced with them the 4th Sunday in May but I left after we danced because I knew there was so much to do at home. As I'm driving back the temperature gauge on my car starts to rise. I call my husband and let him know what's going on. He says it's going to move and not to worry unless it goes all the way to the "H". I continue to drive hoping and praying I make it home all the while it starts to rain. In my mind I'm saying well the rain should cool the car off so I'll be able to make it home. STOP - NO JUDGEMENT! 😄  As I'm driving, the gauge continues to rise and I get really nervous. I call the Husbando one more time. (Yes, I call my husband, Husbando.) He says well you're going to need to pull over, let it cool, and then put some coolant in the car. At this point it's raining REALLY hard and I really don't want to stop and I see the gauge going back down and on top of everything else I let my stubbornness get the best of me..  I let him know it's going back down and I'm going to try to make it home. I continue driving and the gauge goes down and as soon as I think I'm in the clear the car starts to beep letting me know the Temp is high and now the gauge is on "H". I slow down thinking that's going to help but it doesn't. Now my car is smoking and I'm about 2 seconds away from jumping out and abandoning my wonderful Highlander Hybrid. I pull over and sit and pout for about 5 seconds and then I call my husband and following that call I call our insurance so I can be towed home.

Once I get home and settled I call the guy who says he knows everything, My Dad. He says he has a friend that can work on ANY car and he'll be over the next day. (Keep the word "ANY" in mind. It'll be quite important as the story goes on.) The next day comes and he does not show up to our house. 2 days go by and he still does not come to our house. He finally comes and says, "I'm not going to work on a Hybrid because I don't know much about it." Well there goes the word "ANY" right down the drain. We decide to have it towed to the Toyota Dealer in hopes we'll be back on the road the next day. The Toyota Dealer gets it and sends over a quote for $2500 but the immediate work needed is $1500. I stand in amazement because we're trying to move and eventually sell the car so we really don't want to put much work into it. We decide to take their diagnosis to another shop but my car first has to be towed to them. I call our insurance...again...and get a tow truck to tow it to another shop. Meanwhile the Toyota Dealership representative says, "Our technician has began working on it, he'll have to put it back together and probably won't be ready until 9:30am the next day." At this point I'm baffled. I never asked them to work on the car because I couldn't see paying that much and it was only 4:00 in the afternoon and they don't close until 7. I told my husband what all was said and he got on the phone and long story short they had the car ready to be towed in 45 min. He's my hero which is why I call him my Husbando.

The car is now being towed to Fairway Auto. My older brother said they work on ANY car and they've fixed his coworker's cars multiple times. There's that word ANY again but I was desperate and we needed our car. So, I call them and get a quote and I like the numbers that they are saying. They are delayed a day because their Air Compressor went out but assured me that I'd have my car the next morning. I get a call around 9:00am Saturday and I am ecstatic because I think my car is ready. The lady on the other end of the phone says, "Please don't hate me when I'm done." I let her know that I don't want to hate her so please tell me my car is ready. She lets me know they cannot work on my car because it is a hybrid and without the special gloves and tools anyone who works on it can get shocked and die. I let her know I don't want anyone to die so once I figure out who can fix it I'll have it towed.

So now we're back at square Numero Uno and I am frustrated and tired. I've had to ask for rides to work, use LYFT to get to my workout class, and ask the dance advisor who lives in Kings Mountain to come pick me up in Charlotte and take me to dance class. How humbling of an experience!?!

Needless to say, Husbando to the rescue. He finds a place that specializes not just in ANY car but Hybrids. I call and ask for a quote and the numbers he says to me I'm pleased with. So, for the last and hopefully final time I have my car towed to the Hybrid Shop of the Carolinas on 234 E. Cama St. They close at 6pm and I was in prayer all day that my car would be ready for us to drive. I get a call at 5:30pm with some good news, FINALLY. My car is ready and I can come get it unless I want them to drive it around a little bit. I let him know that we'll be there in about 15-20 min. He was so nice and said he'd wait for me since I needed a car. We get to the shop, settle our bill, and I get the keys. I run out and give my car a BIG HUG and then we say a prayer. We thank GOD for providing us with the means to be able to live without a car for 2 weeks. We thank HIM for providing the funds to pay to get a new radiator and thermostat and if you know anything about cars you know getting those replaced is a pretty penny, and we FINALLY thank HIM for all of the people that came to our aid to help us.

As we prepare for this new chapter we are trying to acknowledge the lessons that we can take with us. This lesson, even though it was a long one, was be humble enough to ask for help. Often times we are too proud to ask for help. James 4:6 says ...Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We had to humble ourselves and ask for rides to places we needed to go. I sold my first car to my brother and I had to humble myself and ask him if I could borrow the car I sold him. Talk about humility. We are going to a new country and we can read as much as we want to be as knowledgeable as possible but at some point WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO ASK FOR HELP!

From the time I told the Dance Team I teach that I was leaving, the Dance Advisor, my friend, Mrs. Lisa Byrd said, "Ms. Janelle, you've been faithful for 9 years. You came when we didn't have money to give and you've endured the death of your Mother. God is exalting you. He's taking you higher and even though I'm very sad I knew this day was coming." The word exalting has stuck with me and it now brings this verse to the forefront of my mind. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you..." I Peter 5:6

So readers, humble yourselves and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

Be Uniquely You and Be Kind to One Another. Until next time...