Prayer and the art of Volkswagen maintenance.

Apologies to Donald Miller for stealing his former book title, but it seemed appropriate.

I've been filling up my little jar, and one of my little blessings I wrote down read:

Having a dependable car.

Now, those of you who knew me in the days of the Big Red Dodge and the series of mishaps that occurred with that vehicle over the year 2009 probably also know how excited I was to become the owner of a not-so-New Beetle this summer. The picture above is just me excitedly posed with my newly-acquired car.

Today in the midst of packing for my trip to Illinois, I decided to empty out my change jar and order some cheap sushi, just to avoid having to cook anything right before leaving for a few days. My beloved little car decided to have a meltdown during the should-have-been 5-minute trip to pick it up, and is currently hanging out in the Walgreens parking lot after I ended up walking back to my apartment (after picking up my lunch, of course).

I decided that, while I'm waiting for my sister to pick me up and take me back to attempt to start my car, I was going to take this opportunity to write about this whole thing. Maybe it's just because I've been thinking about these things lately, but I realized during the LONG walk home (which wasn't really that long) that I may have to take that slip of paper out of my jar. Maybe my car wasn't going to be as dependable as I had hoped. I also realized that the weather was unusually warm and gorgeous for a late autumn day (maybe around 72, and in retrospect maybe that means upcoming tornadoes) and I found myself literally thanking God that, if my car was going to mess up anyway, he let it malfunction on a day this nice so I could enjoy the walk home.

I'm realizing that my happiness and my gratitude must never be dependent on everything in my life going exactly the way I think it should. God is teaching me through all of these things. I can't afford a car repair now (and I'm not even sure yet if I'll need it), but maybe I'm going to learn about his provision in ways I haven't before. Or maybe I'm just discovering that, even when my jar is short a couple pieces of paper, there's still countless others waiting to be written on. Today I'm thanking God for beautiful weather and pleasant walks home.

Still learning about gratitude:

Sushi.

Trips to the Farmer's Market.

Memories--what was sweet in the past should never have to bring sadness today.

Having ten fingers and ten toes.

Forgiveness, both giving and recieving.

Having enough to sometimes bless others, and be blessed through that experience.

The vibrant colors that make up everything I see around me.

Jehovah Jireh--knowing my God will supply all my needs.

Happy Thanksgiving. Let's remember all of the good gifts we already have.