Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, what do we do, we swim, swim, swim. ~ Dory, "Finding Nemo"
But what if you're already drowning? What do we do when we have swum, swum, swum ourselves so weary that we just can't swim any more?
People who have known us for a while are very aware of our God-awful luck and how it tends to keep us financially strapped. It seems every time we think we are getting our heads above water, something else is put on our shoulders to weigh us back down. For example...
In September, I discovered cold air blowing from the heater in the Nissan. It is not only difficult, but dangerous, to drive a vehicle when the windshield won't defrost. It finally would blow air warm enough to defrost once at highway speed, but even then the car never got warm. Since we had discovered earlier that she was loosing oil like a son of a gun, we took her to the shop to have both issued looked at. We were told that a gasket was weeping and the oil filter was loose ~ easy fixes ~ and the heater core was flushed. For almost $300 all was well.
Then the truck started making a knocking noise under the front end, but only when it turned. I figured it was a ball joint, but since it wasn't being driven much, and I had just paid for the Nissan, we waited just a little while to take it in. Then, 4 weeks after the first repair, the Nissan was out of oil and blowing cold air through the heat again. Since this is the car my kids are typically transported in, it is my priority when it comes to repairs. Unfortunately, with some investigation, the tech discovered the real problem can only be fixed by replacing/rebuilding the engine ~ for close to $3000. I could buy some time, though, if I was hyper-vigilant about keeping the oil level up.
We found all of this out on a Friday evening and, still being band season, couldn't pick up the car that night. So, I had arranged with the shop to pick up the Nissan the next day and leave the truck to fix the knocking. I only needed to drive the truck to work and then to the shop. Doing 70mph in the left lane on I-71, I heard a pop, felt the truck fall, and saw sparks from the corner of my eye. When I turned my head to fully see what was going on, I saw the truck's tire on the opposite side of the road, rolling along in the grass, finally stopping about a quarter of a mile away. The truck was towed to the shop, and I picked up the Nissan. $1100 later, Red had new ball joints on both sides and a new rotor, rim, and tire.
Did I mention that the Nissan started blowing cold air through the heater again? I've been limping it to the highway with minimal visibility for probably 4 weeks now since we are still trying to recoup from the last repair. I finally took it to the shop a few days ago to have the heater core flushed again, which they did at no charge as a courtesy, probably because they pity me. I've had the car back for 4 days, and now it won't start. It tries to turn over, but it just won't, even with a jump. Tim is probably going to shake his head when he sees the car waiting in the lot in the morning.
This is just a brief recap of our luck over the last 8 weeks. With almost $1500 in unexpected expenses in the last 2 months, everything we had set back to pay for Christmas is gone. My boys are at the ages where they aren't asking for many gifts, just the pricy ones, and there is nothing left to get them anything at all. I would be able to handle all of the stress of these situations much more gracefully if it weren't for the added weight of the heartbreak that I will be disappointing my boys this holiday season.
And it always happens this way. A few years ago we went through a period that makes the last 2 months look like recess during a long day at school. In a few short months, the bottom dropped out of our water heater, one of the cars gave up the ghost, our furnace started blowing cold air, and the employer who painted a fabulous picture that he was unable to deliver let me go when I called him out after 4 months of not making the money I told him during the interview that I needed to make. All of this between June and November of that year. I calculated that between repairs and loss of income, we lost around $8000 during those few months. Leanest Christmas EVER at our house.
It's been a slow road to recovery, but we're getting there. Unfortunately, every time we take 2 steps forward we seem to be shoved a mile back. And it's always right before Christmas. I really do believe in miracles. Is it wrong to pray that somehow God will see it fit to put just enough in the checking account to get the boys what they're asking for?
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