Convenient Inconveniences

Dearest Rachel –

I don’t know where I heard it originally, but it’s been said that there are no such thing as coincidences; it’s just that God doesn’t always want to sign His name to everything that happens. Considering that some of what happens isn’t exactly what we would call ‘good’ (although, given our collective sense of judgment, what gives us humans the right to say one way or another?), one might understand why He wouldn’t always want to take the credit for things that happen.

Still, despite the old proverb about how “two wrongs don’t make a right,” if God can take what we might even see as ‘evil’ and turn it into something good (consider Joseph’s being sold into slavery leading to saving his family – and the civilized world at the time, in the bargain – from starvation), how much more so, albeit to a much lesser extent, can He take multiple little inconveniences and other trials, and make them work out together?

This may take a little bit of explanation.

I’ve told you a few times already about the situation with my back tire; the fact that the rim is cracked (which I’m pretty sure you were aware of in life, as it’s been an issue for some years) and causing a very slow leak, but which has accelerated in the last few weeks due to – somewhere, somehow – running over a nail. I’m pretty sure I mentioned how I can’t even replace the tire, because of the cracked rim, leading to a sort of ‘there’s a hole in the bucket’ situation. Well, the dealership has managed to find a ‘new’ rim (it’s not really new, as such, since the manufacturer doesn’t make this particular model anymore, but it’s in much better shape than mine), and had scheduled me to come in to get it taken care of, along with new tires for the entire car and an alignment check. It’s not going to be cheap, but unless I want to get a new car, it’s what I ought to do. And honestly, I think this vehicle can still get me through for at least another few years, barring accidents.

A quick aside; to be honest, I expect to replace your car before I look to swap out my own. Not that it’s in bad shape or anything; it’s just that it really doesn’t seem to ‘belong’ to Daniel any more than it would to anybody but you. In fact, in five more years, it’ll be twenty-five years old; old enough to be considered an antique. When that day comes, I may just get antique plates for it (which will be cheaper, but require that it be driven no more than 3,000 miles in a year, which, knowing Daniel, wouldn’t be a problem even if we didn’t get him a replacement car), and put it in the garage for good, as a memento, while we get Daniel something a little more fitting to drive around, should he find something he likes – something in royal blue, I shouldn’t wonder.

Anyway, this morning was when I was scheduled to bring the car in for all this work. It also so happened that Logan needed a ride to his job. It so happened that, when he went to his office to put in a little extra time on Saturday, he left his keys on his desk. This wouldn’t be a problem on any other day – he could go right back inside and retrieve them – but as the last one in the office that day, the door locked as it closed when he stepped outside, leaving him stuck until he could get someone to pick him up and bring him back to the house. And since Daniel doesn’t generally answer his phone, that call came to me.

Fortunately, it’s not as if I have any real issue with playing Uber for people in need; in fact, between him and Kerstin this past week, I’m getting rather accustomed to the job – not that I would want to do this for a living (or that they would accept me for such a position, considering that my car is both so old and in such bad shape). But it would have proven somewhat difficult to accomplish this morning – in order to get him to work today – if it wasn’t for the fact that his office is basically in the same direction as, and within a mile of, the dealership. So while my needing to take the car in for service (including, as it so happens, new brakes and some kind of control arm – which will likely set me back by that and a leg) and his being locked out of his car are both inconveniences, the combination is such that it’s really no problem to get him to where he needs to go while I get to where I need to go.

So as inconvenient as this was for both of us, this morning actually proved to be relatively convenient in terms of dealing with the situation. And I even have Dad offering to ‘Uber’ me back to the ‘office’ while I wait for them to get everything together for the car – for once, I get to be the one in the passenger’s seat.

But I still find myself looking both ways before we drive across an intersection.

And with that having been said, keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.