07 December 2006

got all ten

all10
fri, dec 1. worst morning of my life.
survivable due to the help of friends and the Holy Spirit. but wow. i certainly never thought i'd be praying that God would save my toes...

7:30am - my housemate, holly, kindly wakes up early on her snow day and drives me to the belton,mo police impound to pick up my car. (please note: she'd already driven me half-way there the night before in the start of the snow storm only to find out they'd closed at 5pm; she kindly chalked the hour+ drive-time to enjoying the snow and christmas lights.)

8:10am - we arrive at the impound and find out i'm supposed to have $125 in cash to retrieve my car. thankfully there's an atm down the street. (apparently my car had been released last tuesday after the police called, but it got shuffled around and no one called to inform me - thus the holding fee of the lovely police impound. also note: tuesday was 70F while friday was maybe 15F.)

8:30am - the impound guy takes me out to my car and shows me how to start it with a flathead screwdriver. quite simple. my first view of my car's interior brought tears to my eyes. the damage to the dash was completely unnecessary and there was trash and stuff everywhere. it reeked and appeared as if they'd just thrown all of my stuff out somewhere. for the next 45ish minutes holly and i scraped away at my car. soaking our feet in the snow drifts as we worked. oh - the heater wasn't working, so it was all brute force and long suffering. :)

9:15am - holly and i head to the gas station before trying to get back to 71. we have to switch so i'm following her since i can't see out my windshield very well due to no heater. so i've got my window down and am wiping the windshield with my hand. we weren't on the highway very long before i realized my heat gage was way high and climbing. and the spray from the passing vehicles was making it nearly impossible to see.

pulled off but then tried again before realizing the highway was not an option. so we started heading back to kc via the streets. some of which were long uphill sheets of ice. at one point i called my friend donna to see if she could check a map and ensure that we were actually driving the right direction. she gave me the info i needed and we were off again.

i've never been so cold in my life. i was shivering and couldn't speak without stuttering. i'd stomp my feet at stoplights and try to curl my toes, but after a while i couldn't feel them. i seriously started praying that God would save my toes and i wouldn't lose them to frostbite.

[some of you are probably thinking at this point (or several points ago): why didn't i stop and have it towed?? i don't know. at this point i couldn't think clearly and all i could focus on was getting it to my house or to my auto shop. i couldn't even think long enough to understand what you do when your car's overheating. all i could think about was the fact that there were no plates on my car and so i couldn't leave it.]

so after balling to my friend sarah when she called while i was at a stoplight and trying to get her to understand through my stuttering that i couldn't talk b/c i needed my hand to wipe the windshield, holly and i made it to ward parkway. we were on our way!

but near 64th my car totally overheated again and i had to pull off. holly kindly went on to the church where i was supposed to be letting some people in. and i waited for sarah to come. in the meanwhile i removed my shoes & socks and started rubbing my feet back to life. thankfully i eventually could feel all ten toes! donna chatted with me over the phone while i waited and when sarah arrived, i got into her warm car and held tight to her hot water bottle while she borrowed water from a neighbour (we forgot there was water in the hot water bottle (?!) and we replenished my radiator so we could drive on to the auto shop.

12:30pm - thankfully the auto shop guys were kind and helpful and from then on things started looking up.

i finally got the estimate yesterday. have to repair the head gasket and radiator. the heater should work after those are fixed. i'll also have to repair the steering column, not sure how much that will be yet.

but i've already had three different people give me a very generous amount of money to help with the repairs. amazing. absolutely amazing. the kindness i've experienced in these last weeks far outweighs any frustrations or wrongs. i am continually grateful.

Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ beside me
Christ when my car is stolen, Christ when my car is found,
Christ when i'm freezing cold, Christ when i can't think straight,
Christ in the hands that give, Christ in the hearts that comfort


may Christ be with you.

3 comments:

  1. your summation of st. patrick's shield is perfect. brought a smile to my face and the slight tingle of tears in my eyes. love you friend...

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  2. oh berff, your life is a real comedy of late. i'm sorry. they should make a movie about you. why don't YOU make a movie about you? i'd watch it.

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  3. i'd watch it, too. especially since it'd be over in a matter of hours and then i'd know wha the final result was! :)

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