Mysterious Ways, More Than Coincidence, GuidePosts Oct/Nov 2022 Issue by Patricia Couick Leard, Edgemoor, South Carolina
We’ve got a problem here, folks, our mechanic said over the phone.
“What is it?” I asked. My husband, Matthew, and I had dropped off our truck for an oil change a couple hours earlier. We’d made an appointment with our usual mechanic, Randy, and decided on using synthetic oil, which requires a change every 5,000 miles as opposed to 3,000 miles for regular oil. Though synthetic oil was the more expensive option, it seemed like a good investment considering how much we traveled.
“One of my guys put in the wrong oil,” Randy explained. He’d been out of the garage for a test drive and left our oil change to one of his employees. The other mechanic had put in the usual oil – the standard blend.
“Now you have a choice,” Randy said, “We can drain the engine and put in the synthetic blend or you can leave it as is. You won’t be charged since it was our mistake.”
Matthew and I decided to leave things alone. Draining the engine seemed like a waster. We could always get synthetic oil blend the next time around. But we did insist on paying for the work – it has been an honest mistake after all.
Matthew and I didn’t think about the oil change until a few months later. We were making plans to drive from South Carolina, up through the mountains of West Virginia, to visit my uncle in Maryland. It was a long trip, and we’d already put 2,650 miles on the truck since our last oil change, so we wanted Randy to change the oil early.
We dropped off the truck before lunch and asked Randy to check things over for us, just to make sure we were good to go on our trip.
We’d barely sat down to eat when my phone rang. It was Randy, “Your brakes are completely shot,” he said. “I’m surprised they lasted the drive over here. You’ll need to replace them immediately.” Luckily, he had the parts on hand. We gave him the go-ahead and hung up.
Matthew and I looked at each other in disbelief. If the correct oil had been put in a few months ago, we wouldn’t have gone back to the mechanics so soon. We wouldn’t have known the brakes were bad. Who knows what could have happened, especially on those mountain roads? Well, someone did. Someone who was looking out for us.
RW Comments: This story reminds me of the many times my mother would pray for me while I was on my own. She would pray fiercely for all her girls, especially me since I was the clumsy one of the family and took more risks than my other two sisters. When I was single, I experienced many car problems with the clunkers & Junkers I was driving at the time but I always seemed to get to a mechanic or help would come quickly to get me back on the road. I know without a doubt it was the Holy Spirit watching out for me and I like to think it was because of my sweet Momma’s prayers that helped.
Psalm 91:11-12
For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.