If You Want to Get Closer to God...Buy a VW

One of my favorite books is "The Art of Prayer and Volkswagen Maintenance". This is humorous only for the fact that in all the years I've owned this book, I've never actually sat down and thought about the title. This past week and a half I only came to realize what the title of that book really meant. It means that anyone that has a VW, is not a trained mechanic, and tries to "maintenance" it themselves, prays. End of story. (Who knew those Germans were so spiritual!) Now I honestly don't pray as much as I should...more like I don't devote a specific part of my day to get on my knees and pray normally...but once I started working on my VW over a week ago to do what I thought was some routine "maintenance" and change my brakes...my prayer life drastically improved.

Long version of the story (If you don't have 1/2 hour on your hands to read it, and don't really care about car maintenance, and want the abridged version skip on down to the next paragraph):
Anyway...so here's how this all came to be. I went to church...was reminded about prayer and how important it was. I think to myself, I really need to pray more. (Let me just state here...be careful what you wish for). Then I started working on my VW to get ready for a month long road trip I was planning on going on in a couple weeks. It was a Thursday. I figured I'd change the brakes, maybe the rotor I messed up 2 years ago and be up and running same day...no biggie. Little did I know, I needed a tool no one sold or had (except one mechanic at VW had but was not willing to part with for an hour cuz apparently it's that hard to come by) to take off the rotor.  So I said, "Screw it. I'll just slap on the brakes and forget about the rotor again". In changing my brakes, I found one of the calipers had seized and the piston wouldn't turn in and thus all work halted. I had to order a new caliper. By the time I found this out, it, of course, was the weekend and I couldn't get the part 'til Monday. So I figured if I was waiting that long, I'd put the tool on order to take the rotor off. I was now in the waiting process, stuck at my parents house, with my car on bricks...and patience is not one of my strongest virtues. I was lucky enough to have a friend that was going away on vacation the exact week my car was immobile, who allowed me to borrow her car for the week (my own personal LIFE SAVER). So Monday came and I got my caliper.  The tool to take off the rotor was scheduled to get here Thursday when I placed it on order. As soon as I got the tracking number for the tool I was habitually checking it's progress and was stressing as it was estimating a delivery date of Friday. Friday was the day I had to get to the airport, pick up my friend, and give her her car back. So if I didn't get the part Thursday, as originally planned, I would have no time to fix my car and would be stuck indefinitely at my parents house with no mode of transportation...which to me is a nightmare. (You know how it feels to have been moved out for 7 years and only being able to handle them in small doses...then imagine the thought of living back there indefinitely...scary!) The night of Wednesday I literally got on my hands and knees and prayed (first request answered) that the tool would come in the Thursday instead of Friday. While I was down on my knees I also snuck in there a request for more patience because at this point my car had been down for a week and I was getting nervous. (Again, I can not stress enough...be careful what you wish for.) Much to my surprise, the next morning I checked the tracking of the part as an anal stressed person would do, and the ship date changed to Thursday. So here it is a week later and I finally had what I needed to get my car running...just in the nick of time.  Trying to fix the car, everything took longer than expected and it seemed like it was one project and fiasco after another. We didn't get the car up and running. Friday I gave my borrowed car back and was under the gun working on my car. Again we ran into so many problems and questions.  Do we need to bleed the clutch?  What order do we bleed the brakes (with VW's is completely opposite of the conventional way)? After a grueling day/night again working on the car...we had it all together. Relief set in...until I tried to start my car.  My clutch wouldn't engage, car wouldn't start, warning lights blowing up all over my dash, and all I got was the dreaded "click click click" when I turned the key. (Hence my 2nd request of increased patience was answered). And then I broke down completely, burst into tears, and had no choice but to settle down and sleep and deal with it tomorrow. On top of my car issues, I had to blow off a friend I promised to help that night and felt bad about that. (so here's the part where God gives me more than I asked for...faith). The next morning I woke up, called people for suggestions...and was so upset and frustrated that I sat in the driver seat and pumped the clutch like 20 times angrily. And for whatever reason I decided to try to start the car even though I had done it multiple times the prior night with the same failed result...and don't u know that thing purred like a kitten and started right up. The warning lights disappeared. I sat there almost in disbelief.  Whatever was wrong kinda just fixed itself. The saga was over...and I had gotten what I asked God for and more. And it just so happens that my car was fixed in time to still help my friend as he decided to wait until the next day to do his project, so I got that feeling bad part resolved too.  Oh and my car was ready just in time for me to make it to church the next morning. Of course...that's just TOO perfect. Not ready when I was supposed to go out drinking or meet someone that again is probably not good for me (you can read my earlier blog about that one "God's Cock Blocking Me).

Abridged Version of the story:
Everything that went wrong fixing my car, went wrong; which caused me to pray really hard; which caused me to ask for patience; which prompted God to give me a reason to make me be patient (kinda like when you are young and your parents say "I'll give you a reason to cry"). In the end it could not have worked out more perfectly, everything was fixed in time, and I still got the important stuff I needed to do done, which caused me to have more faith in God to take care of my issues big and small.


Needless to say, when I go on my road trip less than 2 weeks from now, I will not be asking God for ANYTHING.  I'm just gonna thank Him for keeping me safe and giving me an amazing day at the end of every night and promise Him I will start asking for things again when I get back. (I can't wait to see the grab bag of tricks He has up His sleeve for my return...I assume giving God a month to "think" is much like giving a 2 year old a crayon and sticking him in an empty white walled room). :)

I don't know how you see your God...I tend to see him a little different from the norm (and by norm I mean there is none...god as a norm is only relative to what your norm was growing up or at least that's how I see it). The thing about the God I know is that he gives you what you ask for...but he's a super smart ass about it...but only cuz he really loves us. (Kinda like how you only can crack jokes on the ones that are closest to you).  I guess He knows that a hard headed person like myself can only learn lessons that stick through trials. He's like..."Oh goodie! Glori wants to pray more. I'll help her with that!  A little car trouble here, a bunch of things to juggle there...she will pray. And she wants patience to deal with the wait.  Oh boy!  Well I'll give her a reason to be have more patience and just make her wait longer. But being that I'm a good God and want the best for her...I'm gonna give her what she is seeking and more. Prayer, patience, and an increase in her faith to remind her again that I have it under control, all things great and small. My ways and timing are impeccable."