DIY Guy Learns a Valuable Lesson
November 19, 2019 by Alan
Filed under Faith, Faith Articles
By Alan Mowbray –
A few days ago, I was in a panic.
I had been working on my MINI Cooper–installing control arm bushings and other parts that, when I had the car at the shop a couple months ago, the dealer had recommended replacing. With a $2500+ price tag on the parts and labor, I figured it was time for DIYGuy!
Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuuuuuun!
Well, everything was going great for DIYGuy until he realized that when he popped the ball joints loose on the lower front control arms, he had damaged the threads beyond repair. Even worse, in trying to extract the ball joints, DIYGUY discovered that the dastardly RustMonster had attacked and welded them into place with his deterioration ray.
Things were not looking good for our plucky superhero…
What would happen if he had to admit that he had bitten off more than he could chew, requiring him to call the dreaded AAA, tow the MINI to the dealer, and kowtow to the eeeevil masterminds of S.E.R.V.I.C.E. D.E.P.A.R.T.M.E.N.T., the sworn enemy of his credit card and his secret organization, B.U.D.G.E.T.???
Sensing defeat, DIYGuy decided to go in the house, get a drink of ice cold H2O and collect his thoughts while leaving his sidekick for the day, FriendGuy, in the garage alone–still banging away at the stuck joints.
As DIYGuy sat on a stool in the kitchen pouting, his wife, a superhero herself (on-call basis only) noted his demeanor and asked him how things were going.
Dejected, he poured out his heart.
“I think I took on more than I can handle. Whatever we do, we can’t get the ball joints out of the steering knuckles. RustMonster has frozen them in place and without some sort of miracle, I’m gonna have to call a tow truck and haul this car off to the dealer to finish the job! I don’t know if I can handle the humiliation!”
His wife–Proverbs31Girl, as she is known in circles that know such things–put her arm around her man softly.
“Why don’t we pray about it?”
Inwardly, kicking himself for not thinking of going to his Lord and Master to begin with, DIYGuy agreed.
And pray she did! Without warning, she attacked Discouragement in the name of the King of all Kings! Spinning around, she ground Doubt under her feet, claiming the authority given to her by her Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Screaming in fear, Frustration and the rest of his cowering minions ran away in defeat, stunned at the brutal assault sustained just by the mere mention of the protection given to Proverbs31Girl and DIYGuy by God Almighty–all because of their sworn acceptance of his Son and the sacrifice He had made for them on the cross.
When the battle was over, DIYGuy raised his head and kissed her softly.
“Thank you, my love, for reminding me to whom I should call on in times of trouble.”
She smiled at him.
CRASH! THUNK! The noise came from the garage.
“Got ‘em!” FriendGuy hollered. Even the evil RustMonster couldn’t stand in the face of the promises of God.
Later that night, after test-driving the repaired, upgraded, and smooth-as-silk MINI around the neighborhood, I crawled into bed with a thankful, humbled heart. Once again I had been reminded why God had matched me up with a woman such as my wife. She was a complement to my weaknesses and vice versa.
“Goodnight, Proverbs31Girl.”
“Goodnight, DIYGuy.”
As I drifted off to sleep, I thanked God one more time for blessing me with this woman.
“My pleasure, son. Sleep well.”
Founder, President, and lifetime member of his wife's fan club, Alan Mowbray enjoys loving on his two kids, building stuff, Mini Cooper maintenance and blogging about life, love and honor. Alan is a farm boy from North Dakota, a US Navy Submariner (8yrs), a foodie who can never spell "recipe" correctly the first time and a collector of spam messages. Check him out at BrandedbyTheOne.com, Twitter @brandedbytheone, and on Facebook.
Thanks for the reminder, that we need to pray regarding all things. sometimes I forget too. Very uplifting and encouraging story. God is Sooooooo Goooooood—all the time. How would we ever make it without HIM.
Blessings to you all. Love Ya!!!
Sometimes I wonder how I made it this far… Love you too!
Years ago I was replacing the throwout bearing in my 4X4 Nissan by myself and on Christmas eve no less. Things went well until I had to line up the transmission shaft with the bearing in the crank. I struggled for over 45 minutes before taking a break in frustration. Realizing I had not prayed, I asked God for help. I slid back under the truck, barely touched the transmission and it jumped into place. All God was waiting for was for me to ask. How much easier would our lives be if we would only ask him first?
That’s what makes these lessons so memorable.
All that effort and sweat and tears and anger and frustration and… sigh.
All I had to do was stop for a second before commencing the repair and just thank God for being my Wisdom and Strength, knowing He would do as He has done many times before – shown His light on the answer.
This instance had been even more poignant because I had been asking God to fine tune my spirit to His voice and gave Him explicit permission to be as obvious as He wanted to be to get my attention. It worked.