When cars don't start

I guess that proverb that "it takes a village to raise a child" is pretty accurate.

It seems it takes almost an entire community just to help me.

I know nothing about cars, except that I really like when they actually work. So, I was a bit disappointed when I got into my car Friday afternoon after getting some groceries, and my car wouldn't start. It's not old by any means, and it hadn't been giving me any troubles lately, so I wasn't sure what the problem was. Then I realized I had no clue how to get myself out of this predicament.

I live alone, and I don't know that many people in my city. My friend Kebbers was out of town, and the other people I do actually know, I didn't feel like calling them with something that would likely inconvenience them. Plus, they are for the most part women, and they probably know as much about cars as I do. So, I stood outside my car looking for a man. Yes, I was being that stereotypical person who assumed only men walking by would be car experts. Sorry, suburban moms I overlooked. Then I sat in my car and prayed God would perform a miracle.

Finally, I had to go inside Kroger and ask for help. My miracle came in the form of good ol' Ron, one of the store employees, and one of his sidekicks who came to my rescue. Ron told me it sounded like my car battery was dead, and he came and jump-started my car and told me to take it to AutoZone, where the lovely people there could tell me exactly what the problem was. So, I stopped at my apartment to drop off my groceries and decided to leave my car running while I hustled inside and then back. I didn't want to have to track someone down in my complex to give me a jump, too.

It's nice when cars work.

At AutoZone, some guy named Kyle ran a diagnostic test and told me my battery was dead. Thanks, I had heard the same from Ron and told Kyle originally that this was likely the case. However, he also added that I needed a new alternator. Umm, what? My car is not even three years old. How could I already need a new alternator? (Again, I know nothing, but I do know that alternators are kind of important and should last longer than three years.) Kyle then threw out some numbers and technical talk at me, likely knowing it would be like he was speaking Mandarin (which I cannot speak, by the way), and told me I needed both a new battery and a new alternator.

I'm a teacher, not a CEO.

I told him I would buy the battery, and he let me know that the alternator would continue to drain the battery, so I needed to get that alternator as soon as possible. At this point, I decided to call my dad, because I was starting to get frustrated standing out in the heat while Kyle installed my overly priced battery that apparently wasn't going to last me more than a day or so. My dad told me to call our family friend who works on cars. I definitely didn't have his number and told him I wasn't calling him, so he said he would then would call me back. When he called me back, this is what he said: "Get the battery, drive your car to Ruben's, and don't turn on your air conditioning or radio the whole way, because if it's the alternator, you need as little running as possible."

Oh, good, that would be fun in the Texas summer heat.

As I drove on the highways with my windows down (well, partly—the shallow part of me couldn't roll them all the way down because of my hair. I know, it's ridiculous. Welcome to my life.), my dad called me about three or four more times, and he told me he and my mom would meet me at Ruben's after they finished golfing. They were on hole 16 on the golf course, so it shouldn't be too long.

When I got to Ruben's and let him take a look at it, he basically told me that he thought my alternator was fine and that the guys at AutoZone were just trying to rip me off. My blood started boiling. Ruben said he would run some more tests just to make sure, but he was almost certain it was just my battery that needed replacing.

My parents finally showed up in their visors and golfy attire, and after a good amount of letting my car run and assessing all he saw, Ruben confirmed that my alternator was just fine. My parents felt really bad for me and said they would pay me for the battery. (I promise I'm not spoiled—I just have the most incredible parents ever. I'm not biased—that's just fact.)

As I drove home, I started thinking about how alone I had felt in that Kroger parking lot. I felt so helpless and fragile, yet God provided for me in so many ways and ensured everything worked out. My God, who has the whole freaking world in His hands, cares enough about me to make sure that I have a car that actually works. He cares enough to surround me suddenly with His God-sends when I was feeling so abandoned and powerless. Instead, His power swept in and made everything OK.

Things aren't always going to be easy in life, and lots of curve balls are going to be thrown our way. Thankfully, we don't have to be alone in these times. Even when we are feeling completely by ourselves, God is still always with us and will send us who or what we need to get us through these times. He's eternally faithful like that. Just like my parents came straight from the golf course to bail their 27-year-old daughter out of a rough day, our heavenly Father will always be there with us through both the good and the bad.

And, unlike a car battery, His love endures forever.