Choosing Thankfulness

It's been one heck of a week.  There have been so many good and wonderful blessings that I've experienced since moving halfway across the country, but that could be a whole post of its own.  The most difficult aspect of my move has been my car search.  Who knew that it would be so hard to find a (not-ugly) car with reasonable miles within my price range?

(Granted, yes, I'm a bit of a picky car buyer.  My definition of "not-ugly" is rather specific, and I tend to think that 90% of cars manufactured after 2006 look like balloons, but I digress.)

After hours of Craigslist searching, many test drives, several promising deals falling through, and lots of hours discussing *ahem* prices with used car salesmen, in a fit of frustration, I agreed to a price on a 2002 Toyota RAV4.

I hadn't been particularly looking at the RAV4's, it was just one of several that I was going to look at while I was out car shopping in Springfield.  I was surprised when I actually liked it, and when I didn't find anything else promising, at the end of the day I made an offer on it.

The papers were signed, the check was written, and the dealer delivered it to my home. I drove it over to a friend's house to show it off, and on our way back from a celebratory trip to Dairy Queen, I noticed the transmission felt off.  It wasn't shifting smoothly, and on occasion the whole car would jerk and lose power before slamming back into drive.  

Not good for a car I'd only owned for two hours.

To make a long story short, there's a significant transmission problem with this year, make, and model, and the car needs some expensive trips to the mechanic.  Thankfully, my dealer has said that he is committed to getting it fixed for me at no cost, but it's been a stressful two days to say the least.  There were many many moments of unknown where all I could do was sit there and wonder how on earth I'd managed to buy such a screwed up car despite careful test drives and even having a mechanic check it before I bought it.  In the midst of it all though, there have been so many wonderful blessings, and I'm choosing to focus on those, mostly to keep myself from going completely crazy.  :)

• Seriously, I've had the world's kindest mechanics. In the past week, I've talked to more mechanics than I've ever talked to in my life, and overwhelmingly, they have all been incredibly kind, helpful, and respectful.  And get this:  Not a single one has charged me a dime.  Seriously?!  How does that even happen?
• I may have moved 2,000 miles away from home, but I somehow managed to move to a place where I still had family close by.  My aunt and uncle have been so incredibly gracious in allowing me to borrow their vehicles for the past month!  And today when I had to call my uncle to ask him if I could use his truck for a while longer because my new car was going to the shop, he said "No problem!" without a second's hesitation.  Family is such a blessing.
• The Lord has provided quality friends here who have been such a wonderful support throughout all of this! These people have not only cared about my crazy situation and prayed for wisdom and guidance for me, but they have willingly gone on test drives with me, helped me set up mechanic appointments, been willing to be second drivers as I have shuffled cars all over creation, and have been such an encouragement in a time when I could have felt really alone. It's a beautiful thing to see the body of Christ loving and serving each other.  I hope and pray that I can be that kind of support and encouragement for others as well.
• My daddy is my hero.  This man has tirelessly searched Craigslist for the past month and walked me through test drives, dealing with used car dealers, and how to pick a mechanic, all from the other side of the country.  It's a good thing we have lots of rollover cell phone minutes, cause we're not leaving any to waste.  I know it's making him crazy to not be able to be here, helping me pick a car, and especially dealing with having bought a lemon, but I certainly couldn't have made it this far without his hours of research and wise advice. I love you, dad.
• Gas is $3.24 a gallon. For this west coast girl who comes from a place where gas prices are among the highest in the nation, I can't get over how "cheap" it is to fill up out here.  Everything is far away from where I live, so the cheaper it is for me to make trips to mechanics and dealers, the better.  It's the little things.
• I've learned so much!  In the past two weeks, I've gained so much knowledge about buying cars, researching cars, negotiating prices, finding a good mechanic who is not my dad, my brother, or my best friend's dad, and as of the last two days, transmissions!  I love to learn, and looking at this whole ordeal as a learning experience makes it seem just an itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-bit worth it.
• My dealer seems to be an honest guy who is committed to getting my car fixed. Legally, he could have easily said, "Sorry!  You bought it, this sucks for you!" but from my interactions with him, it seems like he is willing to make things right and keep me a happy customer.  This is huge. 

And there are more, but these are the big ones.  When I get frustrated about still not having a car and still having to borrow vehicles and omigosh, I just made the most expensive mistake of my life and wow I really suck at being an adult, I'm trying to remind myself of these things.  The Lord has taken good care of me in the past, and I know that He's not gonna quit now!

Your love never fails / it never gives up / it never runs out on me!