Surprising results to a prayer

Last week, I could feel stress returning as I was anticipating returning to work after a week off.

It was only Saturday and there it was the feeling of dread.

Sadness, heart racing, unable to sleep and more.

I decided to pray about it. My prayer was simple, please let me handle whatever came my way.

No crying or anger or any of the other negative feelings was my hope.

I also prayed I would not wake up angry on Monday, even though I hate waking up at 5:00AM. I made sure I was settled in on Sunday night by 10:00PM. I woke up and felt ok which is an improvement over how I normally feel that early.

Monday, I got through the day letting things roll off my shoulders versus internalizing them. YEAH !

Tuesday was when I felt like I was starting to be tested. About 40 miles outside of Columbia, Jenn's car started to act up. Normally, this is when the stress would start to kick in.  Instead I called Hertz and arranged a car rental.  I called Goodyear and let them know we would be dropping the car off.  Then I prayed we would would chug along to our 40 mile destination.

We made it.

PLEASE NOTE: When you are driving either a 12 or 17 year old car, you are way behind the changes  made in the automotive industry.  No key to start the car, a back up screen and Sirius radio. We had read the owners manual to see how to put gas in the car.

Wednesday and Thursday, were not bad,  I fought off anything that might cause the "S" word to appear.

I was feeling good enough by myself.

Then Friday arrived.

On the way to work, once again the car started acting up this time 50 miles from Columbia.  There was a slight difference , it was my car this time.  I drove on the shoulder of the road as my car died.  I made it into the rest stop and the car went kaput.

Once again, the new fighting stress Donna did not lose it.  Jenn called AAA while I called Hertz in Columbia. Hertz had no cars available.  Jenn had finished the call to AAA.  Jenn suggested we look for car rentals in Orangeburg, SC.  Hertz, no one answered the phone.  Then we tried Enterprise and lucked out. They not only had a car but they would come to where we were on the highway and bring us back to the office to sign the necessary papers.  Meanwhile AAA was another issue.  We called them at 8:00, Jenn called them back at 9:15 for an ETA.  Magically, an email appeared telling us a tow truck would be there by 10:40.  Really??? 2 1/2 hours????  Then we received another call that someone would be there in less than 30 minutes which was very accurate.

We finally had the second rental car of the week and my car on it's way to Columbia for repairs.

I did post on FB about what had transpired and that I had had it, I was done.  But then something great happened, people started responding to my post.  Their responses were the thing I needed in order to accept what had happened and not throw in the towel.  Thank you all for reminding me we all get tested and that I am not a quitter.

Here were the pluses of this week:
I never felt stressed (the power of prayer).
Each person we dealt with was extremely kind.
Jenn's car is up and running.
My car will be back on the road Monday.
Jenn saw a blue Ford Ranger sitting on the side of the road as we chugged along on Tuesday. (We think it was our friend, Dan, keeping an eye on us and giving us a sign we would not break down before we hit our destination).
The security guard at my office must think I own a used car lot since I showed up in 5 different cars, one for each day of the week.
When I posted on FB that we were broken down on the highway, my next door called to let me know she was heading to Columbia and could she help out.
I didn't get upset over the large dollar amount for two cars to be repaired (one alternator, one fuel coil, one PCV hose, a spark plug, two tires and 4 days of car rentals (you can just guess how much money I am talking about can't you).

I got through it all and can say without tears, cursing, yelling or getting depressed (ok maybe a little depressed today when I figured out how to pay for the unexpected expenses).

Who needs a vacation/cookie jar account anyway?

I know most of you are thinking, just break down an buy a new or newer car already !!  We just have seven more months and Jenn's student loans will be paid off (WOO HOO), then we can look for newer transportation.  Until then it's duct tape and paper clips holding the cars together.

I was told once by my good friend that worry does not do any good and neither does stress.

Maybe this week was a test to see how sincere I was about wanting to work on handling stress better.

I will continue to pray about it.  It was clear this week my prayers were answered.

All the issues that came up this week were unplanned but isn't that a big part of life? Unplanned events.

Two quotes this week:

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. - John Lennon

You are braver than you believe and stronger and smarter than you think.- Winnie the Pooh (I am really becoming a big fan of the wisdom of  Winnie the Pooh)

See you next week.