When It Rains, It Pours...

 
“So the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…” 2nd Peter 2:9


  It has been rather stressful to say the least.  Word to the wise:  If the first word out of a man’s mouth is “I’m not a crook” or “I try to sleep well at night by doing everyone right” guess what?  That man is a crook and he is ripping you off.

 
It all started when I took my car to a repair shop to get yet another coolant leak checked.  The shop easily found the leak, but the recommended repairs were around $700.00.  This was not great news since I am running on empty and without employment so I looked at my available credit cards and reluctantly decided to make the repairs putting one of my cards near its limit.  I was told the job would only take half a day, so I was surprised to find out that the job is “ a big job” and the shop would need my car for another whole day.  I called again the following day for these wonderful men to tell me that while they were able to fix the leak, my head gasket blew during testing for more leaks.  The only recommended option was a re-manufactured engine, which would cost $4,500.00!  Needless to say, I hung up the phone and called my brother.  He immediately called bull honky on the situation and told me that if my car was not running hot then there was no feasible way for my head gasket to have just blown.  I continued to talk to the men at this repair shop for the next three days.  They were adamant that I needed a new engine.  I was adamant that they had messed up my engine.  It took this guy three days to “find” a shop that would take the job because he claimed no one would do a head job on an engine that had over 100,000 miles on it.  I think he was really trying to find someone that he could refer me to that wouldn’t out his shop as having bent the connector to the fuel injector, which is what really happened.  I did not need an engine.  My actual cost for this additional repair was $294.00 including the tow truck.  

 
There was a good week where I was thinking that it was game over Jessica.  I could not afford $4,500 in repairs, but I also had to fix my car.  I was in a major mess; I knew I was being taken advantage of, but I did not have the proof or the knowledge to combat my offender and I was terrified.  Then God dinged me yet again with the phrase “you haven’t asked me to turn this around for you yet”.  God, as usual, was right.  I had been praying all the way through this ordeal for the techs working on my car, but I had just accepted the situation as is and assumed I was doomed.  Just like I just accepted the fact that I was feeling all of that fear and anxiety last month and would continue to do so until I started a new step study.  While sharing in Celebrate Recovery, God made me acutely aware that I hadn’t asked Him to remove the fear and anxiety that was plaguing me and in the very same second He removed it from my life.  I’ve been back to the real Jessica ever since.  This time I took heed and immediately apologized to God for accepting this current situation as is and asked for His help, for Him to turn this situation around and He did.  At my brother’s advice, I called some other machine shops in the area and a man at Automotive Block Head and Welder agreed that there was no way my head gasket had blown and referred me to Bell’s Automotive, which is the BBB shop that found out what was really wrong with my car.  I do plan to confront Monument Road Tire and Service now that I know they bent my connector while putting my engine back together.  While I am not entirely out of the storm yet, the rain has stopped and the clouds are thinning.  I have some 2nd interviews lined up and I hope to accept an offer very soon which will allow me to finally exhale and turn my focus onto the reason God brought me to Jacksonville in the first place.