Monday Maintenance

OK. This really happened yesterday, but it's close enough.


Yes, that is me down on the dolly. I told my husband that I would like to learn how to change the oil in our car. He's been working pretty solid the last few weeks, so I haven't had to give in to that request. I say these things, and I'm not altogether sure that I mean them. He finally finished this hitch of work this weekend, and we stopped by NAPA on the way home from church! Oh joy. I must admit, that as unsure as I was about this project, God had really blessed me this particular Sunday and I felt more confident and adventurous as ever! Today was the day. We made it home and promptly took a 45 minute nap that somehow lasted 2 hours. I normally do not function well after a nap that long. Again, God was blessing me yesterday and after a few groggy minutes of walking the dogs, I was awake and ready to tackle the oil change.

My fabulous husband got me set up with the car up on jacks and showed me where to unplug the oil pan. I took the socket wrench and rolled up under and proceeded to turn the plug. Nothing really happened. It turned, mind you, but never loosened. I alerted my love of the situation and he took a turn on the wrench as well. Same result. We then discovered that there was a nut in a bolt type thing that was the plug. The plug was eventually removed and the draining commenced. It commenced for a long time and looked a bit odd. After a large amount of fluid and time passed, it finally stopped and my stud-man took a look at it. He also noticed the odd coloring. Once he examined the fluid closer, he realized that it was indeed transmission fluid. We had successfully drained all the transmission fluid from the car. Oh dear. Perhaps that 2 hour nap did more damage than we thought.

When I realized that my honey thought it was a bit funny, I relaxed and we enjoyed the laugh! We refilled the transmission fluid through his ingenious funnel Macguyvering and proceeded to find the correct plug for the oil and, yes, I changed the oil in the car! It was not difficult, though I appreciated the loosening of the plugs and filter beforehand. What should have been a 45 minute to an hour job took several hours and we got very dirty. I was glad I put on a pair of my husbands Carharts. I felt pretty proud of myself by the end of it all. It was a fine end to a fabulous day.

I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to show me how to do things, and then have the humility to laugh when he's made a mistake! I enjoyed the opportunity to share with him more of the life lessons he has taught me and how his examples have helped me to mature and grow in the Lord. I am so blessed. I am a huge receiver of God's grace. I certainly don't deserve any bit of it.