Back in mid-December, or it might have been in November, I wrote about a bad day I was having, which was in part related to the fact I’d discovered my car was going to eventually have to have an engine replacement. My mechanic hoped changing the spark plugs would solve the problem for a while, and it did, for all of about a week and a half. At that point, it became pretty clear that eventually was going to be a lot sooner than we’d hoped.

I spent the next month worrying about what we’d do. My options were limited to finding an engine for my car or deciding to get a new car. I preferred the first option. Other than needing that engine, my car was just fine. The body is still in good shape, and everything else works fine. After several years of enjoying not having a car payment, it’s really hard to go back and do the whole car payment thing again, so the second option didn’t appeal to me at all.

I was quite excited in April 2000 when I bought my car. It was my first-ever, brand new car. I’m the only person who has ever owned that car. Until then, all the cars I’d had were used. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but I wanted a car nobody else had owned. Now, twelve years later, I can say “been there, done that” and I’m not really interested in having to have a brand new car. Like I said, you get used to not having that car payment in a hurry, and after six years of no car payments, it’s definitely not fun to think about going back there.

And so while my daughter was home from ALC for Christmas break, I drove her car wherever I needed to go, and we began a quest to find an engine. I use the word quest rather than search because that’s what it felt like. Call after call to salvage yard after salvage yard yielded the same result: “Sorry, ma’am, we don’t have one.” The first couple times that didn’t bother me too awfully much. I still had a list of places to call. After three or four more calls with the same result, I was starting to get rather depressed. By the time I’d made a dozen calls all over Central and Eastern Kentucky, I was ready to buy a horse and buggy, even though Cody told me I wouldn’t have much luck with that either.

My quest was not yet completed, and my daughter had to return to school. Luckily, I had somebody offer me the use of her car. I’m very grateful for that, and so Nic went back to ALC, and I began driving yet another car that wasn’t mine. The quest to find an engine was leading nowhere, until a second call was placed to Grassy Creek Auto. This time Will, the friendly sales rep, said he could get me a remanufacured engine for nearly $2500. That wasn’t great, but after a dozen conversations ending with “Sorry, ma’am,” the quest might prove fruitful after all, even though that was a bit more than I would’ve liked to spend.

Of course, if I had them get the engine for me, there was still the issue of taking the car to the garage and paying the labor bill for having the engine changed. Suddenly, that’s a lot of money going into my car, but considering I didn’t want to be saddled with that car payment, it was beginning to look like the only option. Again, I was depressed. Buying a used car was an option, but depending on the price and where I found one I liked, that could still result in that dreaded monthly car payment. Plus, I’m hesitant about buying used unless I know who I’m buying from and I trust them.

Let’s just say I wasn’t handling all this real well. Finally, though, I remembered what I wrote in the other blog – God has never not provided me a car when I needed one. When I remembered that, it seems like everything fell into place and in a matter of about three days, the issue was resolved. No, my quest did not end with an engine to put into my car. My quest ended with an offer from somebody I know and trust to sell me a used car, and the price was right.

And after three months of being scared to drive my car and after about six weeks of having to drive others’ cars, I finally am the proud new owner of a great used car. The whole time, Jimmy kept telling me not to stress out, not to be depressed, and tried to assure me that it would all work out. And, as usual, he was right. While I was panicking about not being able to repair or replace the old car, his only concern was that the problem be solved in a way that made me happy. Once again, God took care of the issue; He found me a car from a reliable source and worked out the details so we could get it. And, for the record, Jimmy got what he wanted, too, because I am really happy and I really like this car!