About a week ago, our car got totaled. Yes, the lovely
Batmobile that took us on many adventures is no more. It was just a minor
fender-bender, but the car in front of ours was a big pick-up, and our little
car crumbled like nobody’s business. My husband and I have been discovering how
life without a car-when we were used to having a car previously-is definitely a
bit of an adjustment. Even though many people in Steubenville-longtime
residents and students alike-don’t have cars, having that lovely mode of transportation
is wonderful. You can drive to St. Peter’s downtown. You can drive to Aldi and
Wal-Mart. You can drive to the library. And you can even drive outside of
Steubie on day trips! All of a sudden, we lost our car, so all of these things
that we used to do frequently are a bit out-of-the picture. In the midst of the
schedule alterations we’re forced to make, however, there have been so many abundant blessings from God in
all of this!
God provides.
Really, I know it’s a bit cliché to always say, “Oh, God will provide,” and as
such, many people may disbelieve it. But He really does! For example, when
Jacob called me up after the car got totaled, he was stuck 40ish minutes away,
and I needed to find him a ride back to Steubenville. Since the first people
who came to my mind all had 6-8 kids (many of them quite young, so I felt bad
asking them), I had no clue what to do. On a sudden burst of inspiration, I
called a household sister, but she was at work—so she volunteered her boyfriend
(who I had never met before) and he dropped everything to spend the next few
hours helping my husband and I out. Also, when I called the Adoration
coordinator at St. Peter’s (since we could no longer commit to our hour), I had
thought she would be very disappointed that she’d have to hunt up someone else
to take our hour. Instead, she (even though she doesn’t know us) immediately
started volunteering her time to shuttle us back-and-forth places if we needed
it! We’ve also had friends and other students selflessly volunteer rides for
us. God really provides all the time!
More time with my
husband! Since my husband can’t make the long drive to work everyday, he’s
going to start working remotely (which he had planned to do during school). So,
I get to spend more time during the day with him, which is so much fun!
Poverty! I think
a lot of people take certain possessions for granted (like phones, computers,
cars, showers, houses, etc.). But living without a car is doable. Not always
the most fun, but it can be done! It’s been a wonderful way to focus on the
gifts that God gives us and be detached in regards to possessions-to have
poverty of spirit, even when we own different things. And getting to walk
everywhere seems very Franciscan to me, which is awesome J
Budgeting. This
whole car thing forced us to get down to the nitty-gritty details of our
budget, which has been wonderful and quite a blessing!
Exciting Adventures. Not
having a car brings on a whole range of adventures that wouldn’t of happened
otherwise. I could have passed on the whole stalker-incident last week
(basically, I was being stalked by a creepy guy in a van-moral of the story:
make sure my cell phone is easily accessible at all times in case that happens
again!), but other great things have happened.
For example, on Sunday we had to go to Mass on campus instead of St.
Peter’s, since it was a lot easier to walk up to FUS. Well, as we reached the
chapel, we ran into a good friend of ours from Wisconsin, who we haven’t seen
since she graduated in May! That was a huge
present and gift from God-life is such a great adventure!
There’s the old adage, “When life hands you lemons, make
lemonade.” I beg to differ slightly on this-because we don’t have to “try and
make the best of things;” what we need to do is trust God and see how He’s
working! He always does incredible work in all difficulties that come along,
and we should take joy in this!
When life hands you
lemons, God makes lemonade-and He wants you to enjoy it!
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