Learning to be thankful

These are our cars.

Back at the beginning part of the year, we had some serious trouble with both of them. Some times when a car needs a repair you have to decide if it is worth the cost, or if it's time to invest in a new car. Well, during this particular set of car troubles, that question was further complicated by the question of - should we (and could we afford to) replace both cars. And if not, which one do we fix and which do we replace. They were both equally (seemingly) dead.

By the grace of God, after 2 weeks of stressful misdiagnosises, repairs, and repair bills - both cars seemed to be fixed. (At least mostly, mine lost its cruise control and Mon Amour's its radio in the process. A small price to pay).

The point of this mundane car repair story is not just that we have two functioning cars now, but rather that somehow through that unpleasant two weeks I learned how much I have to be thankful for.

I try to take time to pray every morning - either when I am walking the dog, or when I am driving to work. While praying I always try and pray through things I am thankful for, and, with life being rather ordinary and routine these days, I wasn't finding a whole lot to be thankful for.

Then I remembered that I was in my car, and that it had not needed a repair in a long time. So I thanked God that I and my husband both had cars that got us to work (and back!) That triggered thoughts of many other things that I take for granted that I should be thankful for. Such as:

• Jobs to go to that pay the bills
• A freezer and pantry full of food
  
• An amazing husband
  
• Loving Family
• A great church
  
• An adorable dog
• Free bread
  
• A season of life where we can sleep in on the weekends

So yeah, in summary, these days every time I get in my car it dawns on me that I should be thankful; so I thank Him for my car and then for whatever else comes to mind.

Who knew car repairs could teach you so much.