If you’ve ever wondered how many times you’re allowed to go through a carwash on one $6 purchase, the answer is at least four. On Monday morning I drove the kids to school in my dad’s car. So thankful we are able to borrow it while he and my mom are in Africa right now. On Friday we had a glass shattering accident with Silver Belle (our van) which has left us without a vehicle. More on that later. I can only fit 4 kids at a time in the car, so there is always a shuffling around to make it work. After I dropped the older two off at school, I swung back home to pick up the middle crew since Jack had a dentist appointment. Shortly after we arrived, some dear sweet friends we haven’t seen in much too long, started piling into the waiting room with us. My entire weekend had been pretty shaken up with the accident and I was battling some discouraging thoughts. You know how after being with certain friends for even five minutes changes your entire outlook on life? That’s how this mama is to me. You should check out her journey. Between the two of us, we have 15 children. We left the dentist office blessed and refreshed. She even scheduled her follow up visit to match our follow up visit so we can hang out again in the waiting room together again in a few weeks. Yeah. She rocks!
From there, we headed over to the carwash, because my dad’s car needed a bath. Plus, it’s fun. We paid $6 for the express wash then drove into the tunnel, paying close attention to the traffic light telling me to “enter slowly”. I drove ahead until it said “STOP”. Then it told me to drive forward again. Stop. Drive forward. Stop. Then it started and soap sprayed all over the car, but the brushes only barely touched the back bumper. A few seconds later, the light told me to exit slowly. Say what? I parked the rather soapy car in front of the gas station and stated my problem to the owners. A very Italian man smiled and coached me on the skills of carwash etiquette, because how I described what happened must have sounded like I truly had never gone through a carwash before. He walked out with me and told me to drive through again. He gave me instructions on what each hand motion he would make, meant, and we tried again. He stood at the end of the tunnel, like an air traffic controller about to land a jumbo jet. Except he added another hand motion we didn’t go over in our briefing: “put the car in park”. It looked a whole lot like “Back Up”, so I did. Slowly, of course. The loud “exit slowly” buzzer came on. He shook his head and motioned for me to circle around again. He typed another pass into the little computer thing while I drove to the entrance. The second attempt was better. Not correct, but better. Something happened which forced me to circle yet again. He certainly must have thought I was fresh out of drivers ed. Or carwash ed. This time we had all the details worked out and I was dying of laughter. He put on his traffic controller hat again, and this time it worked. Harry only cried a little as the gigantic brushes scrubbed Grandpa’s little red car, which is now sparkling again.
After the carwash, I had to run to the police station to pick up the police report from the accident. Last Friday, we were two blocks from home, driving to school. I maneuvered down the narrow city street, noticing someone was double parked on my left. As I navigated between his car and the other cars parallel parked, a woman to my right opened her car door as I was passing her. The crunch was loud and sickening. Her door was stuck in the sliding door window of our van, and the entire window shattered into a spider web.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but I did start to cry. The second day of school, and we would be late. The van was a mess. To make matters worse, the party involved refused to take responsibility and mouthed off to the police officers. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Now the insurance companies have to figure out what really happened since it is now word against word. At the police station, I obtained the report no problem. Harry was totally enamored with the receptionist. He is usually serious towards strangers, but something about her sweet face turned him into a sunbeam! It was darling. I think we will need to go back just to say hello.
Much happened during those first 3 hours on Monday. Tuesday found us at the eye doctor. Jack and Elsie both need new glasses. More dentist appointments and doctor appointments coming up too. Then we’re all caught up on WELL visits for at least 6 months. ALL THE PRAISE HANDS! Matthew still has regular checkups to keep tabs on what’s going on in his unique, anatomically incorrect sinuses.
Nadine and Elijah absolutely love school. We had our first parent/teacher back to school night last night and got to meet each teacher and hear how God is blessing them there. So thankful for the input of others into their lives.
Our other three students begin school next month here at home. Harry blends into the mix in his own sweet way. As Betty said while she helped me at the store yesterday: “You are just such a precious child!” Yes, yes he is.
No dentists, doctors or grocery stores in the mix for today, but there is plenty of laundry to do. I’m going to pretend my laundry detergent is like the widow’s oil which didn’t run out until she didn’t need it any more. Because it looks like there is only one more load’s worth left in the container, but I have a few more loads to do than that. And as trivial and trite a need that is (because I know the detergent I ordered is on its way soon, and hey… I’m cool not doing laundry for a few days) we do have a true and real need right now. Matthew needs a work truck by this weekend, so we pray and look and wait and anticipate that answer to prayer! And maybe we’ll celebrate its arrival by… a carwash or three!
Grow Old With Me 