The epic weekend

Gather around, dear ones. I’ve a story to tell. A tale of epic porportions. A tale of disaster, joy, and long treks across the countryside. A story that stretches across centuries and countries. . .

Or at least weekends and states.

The epic story begins on Thursday afternoon when I got the call from the body shop that my car was ready to be picked up. I happily turned in my rental car (which I hated) and was reunited with Lady Jane, my Jetta. Reunited. And it did feel so good.

But that wouldn’t last long. On Friday morning on my way to work, the oil pressure light started going off. This is NOT a good thing and this warning light also includes a buzzer that scares you to death and will NOT shut up. I knew this was something I had to have someone look at, but I didn’t know if it was related at all to the work that had just been completed or the initial wreck.

So once I got to work, I called the body shop who advised me to bring the car back and then if necessary, they’d get a mechanic shop involved. I was taking a half day vacation because my mom was coming into town, so about 11 a.m. my work day was over and I started over toward the body shop. Let’s just say that my nerves were shot and my car was making bad noises. Let’s not talk about the possibility that the motor may be really, really badly damaged. I just don’t want to right now.

After Kenny at the autobody shop checked things out, he advised having the car towed to my mechanic’s and worked with Enterprise to get me back into a rental car at the rate they give to insurance companies, even though I’d be paying out of pocket since insurance wouldn’t cover it unless it’s found the damage to my car was caused by the initial crash or the repair work. Rental cars weren’t available until 3 p.m., so Kenny  had the receptionist drive me home and I waited until my mom arrived.

On Saturday, my mom and I went to the Beth Moore simulcast at my church as we’d planned. It was a good day, a day in which God worked, but it was also a long day, and a spiritually and mentally exhausting day. And after the simulcast ended around 4 p.m., Mom and I hurried back to my house and set out for Missouri.

No, me going with her wasn’t planned. But somewhere on Friday my parents had offered to let me borrow one of their cars while mine was in the shop so that I wouldn’t have to pay for the rental car. It was a good solution, even if I had to drive to Missouri on Saturday and come back on Sunday. So, I drove 4 hours to Missouri, spent the night at my parents’ house, went to Sunday School with them, and drove back to Tennessee because I had to be back to work with the teens in our arts ministry at church. I got to my house at 3 p.m., took a short nap, and went to church at 5:30 p.m.

After JAM (the arts ministry) was over, I was completely exhausted, had a headache, and just wanted to sit in the big chair in the living room with my dog and not think. So I did.

I think I crammed enough in this weekend to last a week.

See, I told you it was epic.