My cars and I have become very good friends since my husband died. Soon after his passing, I think they sent messages to each other saying, “Master is no longer here! Let us break down!” I learned A LOT about car maintenance and repair. I didn’t mean to, but I cried at the tire store when I learned I had to replace all the tires. Don had only been gone a few weeks and I was so confused and I through my tears I said, “I am sorry, but my husband died a few weeks ago and he did all the tire stuff. I don’t mean to cry and I don’t know what I am doing.” Since that time, I have purchased numerous sets of tires and there were no tears.
The one vehicle which holds the most memories is also the most fickle of the bunch. It is 21 years old and is in great shape! It runs great, but I think something is draining the battery. I found Don’s battery charger in pieces (I think he was working on it, but died before fixing it), so I bought a new one. I had seen him use a charger and I marched to the car to charge the battery. Then I read the instructions. . .
Saftey glasses, ground the negative, explosion, detach, attach, stand away, plug in, switches, amps, volts, ugh! After reading the instructions, I thought I was going to be doing brain surgery or building a rocket motor. What was with that? I watched YouTube videos and they were really dumb and useless. I got very discouraged and texted a friend, asking him if he could come over and teach me.
My friend said he could not come over because he was very ill, but his message to me was, and I quote, “Put red on positive and black on negative then plug it into the electric socket. Do it in that order and it will work every time.” I asked my friend a couple of questions and then did exactly what he said to do. You know what? There was no explosion, no sad car, just the charger’s fan humming away. Whew! After a while, the car battery was charged.
Just like my experience with the battery charger, I have made some things in my life much more complicated than they need to be. I worry about things that will never happen. I plan for every possible outcome of every situation. I have doubts about my abilities. I wonder if I am on the path the Lord wants me to be on. I think about things I should be doing. I make things much more complicated than they need to be. I just need to put red on positive, black on negative and plug it in. And as my friend said, it will work every time.
