My new motto: Man proposes, God disposes

We weren’t sure it would happen, but it did.  After all the suspense, our van was ready this morning in time for our scheduled early-afternoon departure.

David Colbath Transmission came through for us.  A few days earlier, they had given us an estimate to replace the torque converter.  It wasn’t the lowest estimate in town, but it was reasonable.  Nonetheless, we decided that we needed to save the money by doing the work ourselves.

That was Plan A, but the parts shop gave us the wrong part.  It looked right and it was close enough to fit, but it didn’t work.   Not only did it fail to work, it damaged other parts.

When we finally brought it to them 3 days later, out of time and with 2 additional repairs needed, we were victims waiting to happen.

They knew we were in a hurry, and they knew we weren’t paying the bill ourselves.  They knew we had practically been given a blank check for repairs.  But they are Christians, and evidently they understand that true religion extends beyond Sunday morning and affects every area of life.

Would you believe that even with the new problems created by our incorrect part, they came in less than $100 over their original quote?  They actually knocked $80 off the bill to keep it at less than $1,000.

We had intended to do the work ourselves and save several hundred dollars on labor.  Instead, God provided the parts and labor.

Man proposes, God disposes.

But you’ll never guess what happened while I was driving the van home from the repair shop.

The plan was to get home, load up, and leave.  The children had everything ready and were waiting like a pit crew.  Then my sister-in-law in Waco called.   We were to spend tonight with them, but it’s not going to work.  They had a mean bug recently, and relapsed.  We don’t want it, and you don’t want it.  We’re keeping our distance.

The children are disappointed, but they’re young.  They’ll learn.  In the meantime, I consoled them with a dollar-menu lunch at Sonic in the nearby small town.  We ate late so we could enjoy half-price Cherry Limeades.

And so we move on to Plan B:  leave bright and early tomorrow.  We’re planning to wake up and leave around 5 AM.

We are not early morning people, so this will be either a brave new adventure or mass torture.  Or both.  Who wants to suggest a cheap, fun place for breakfast?  Maybe a McD’s with a big playplace?  We hope to be passing through the Austin area between 8 and 9 AM.  Unless something unexpected happens.   Nah…

Man proposes, God disposes.

Related posts:

1. The plan
2. WFMW: Getting there on time
3. Lessons learned the hard way
4. The Boy promises not to drown…again
5. Silly me