The right tool makes ALL the difference

Well, so it has only been one day since my last post--highly unusual for me. Finding a few minutes to sit quietly in front of the computer to collect my thoughts, is like trying to make a phone call in the middle of a parade! As it is right now Matthew is standing next to me to show me some "GREAT" creation he invented out of his bionicles set. WOW! That is fascinating Matthew. I am amazed at all of the small pieces you used. Great...okay go add some more."

Now...where was I? Oh yes...the right tool. Last night my amazing husband came home and worked on the van for 5 hours in the FREEZING weather. My starter was going bad. At first we thought it was the battery simply not getting a good connection. So he cleaned the connectors and we tried again. Still no luck. :-( So that is when he received the revelation that it may very well be the starter. Chris does all the work on our vehicles, so I trust him (for the most part) when it comes to repairing them.

But just a few weeks ago, he had to change the ... something on his car. I'm not going to lie--I don't remember. All I know is that he had to take off the serpentine belt and the pulley that holds the belt to get to the defective part. (The serpentine belt is the MAIN belt that runs your entire motor.) However, he could not stop the pulley from spinning in order to unscrew the bolts that held it. He spent almost an hour and a half trying to remove the pulley through the most hilarious --and dangerous methods possible (although at the time it was not so funny). I finally lost it and told him to call the stinking auto store...maybe there is a part that is used to remove the belt. "But the book doesn't show that I need a special part." PUH-LEAASE call the auto store. Well at this point he decides he needs another tool and will just GO to the store. Honestly, I think he was wanting to get away from me--which was fine I wanted to get away from him! Come to find out there was not a tool, but the man was able to tell him what tool to use to get leverage to remove the bolts. 20 minutes later the part was off and less than one hour later the new one was on!

Well, last night when he was trying to change the starter on the van, he realized he did not have the right sized socket. He only had a ratchet--which will do the job, but take twice (or in our case three times) as long. I finally called dad and asked him to bring the right part. My dad has an entire tool store in his possession. He said he would, but for whatever reason took an hour to get here with it. By that time Chris had removed the bolts (all two of them). He was able to use the tool to put it back on. So finally after 5 hours he was FINISHED!! He felt bad because he wanted to take us out to eat, but due to the hour I just fixed the boys fish sticks and macaroni for dinner at about 8. But he came in apologizing for the repair. I reassured him that it was not his fault that the starter went out. Nothing lasts forever--I was just glad that he was able to fix it. Putting it in the shop could have cost close to $300.00, this way was only a MERE $100.00. He said, "well I am sorry that I did not have the right tools, other wise I could have fixed it a long time ago." But I told him maybe the Lord wants to remind us that we need the right tools in ALL we do, not just repairing the cars. Imagine how much smoother and quicker the job would go if we carried the right tools. He seemed to agree. So Lord, I just want you to know that I hear you. And I will start learning to carry the right tools with me. But if you could find it in your divine mercy, would you PLEASE give Chris a break for a while? I think we both need it. Thank you!