You get the idea. It has been an expensive summer. So you can imagine my distress when I found out this morning that to fix my car to drivable condition (because right now it needs a tow truck) it will cost $1200. Best case scenario. Worst case? Around $4,000. Maybe more. 

Oh, the joy of old, beat-up cars. But this old, beat-up car is paid for.

So after I had a good cry (thank you Jesus that I have an office with a door, for such a time as this), I made a quick visit to my local car dealership to see if I would be better off doing the “Cash for Clunkers” option instead of fixing poor Snowflake. Today was the deadline, and I quickly learned that the car dealership had no incentive to make any good deals since they knew I was desperate to get my deal made by 5:00. So after a long discussion with my dad, I decided to give Snowflake another chance. I’m going to hold her hand and get her through this illness and hopefully she’ll survive a better car (quite possibly a car with a brand-new engine, lucky thing).

So in honor of my crummy, financially devastating day (there goes my plans to redecorate my bedroom or take an African cruise… or to be able to afford groceries) I have decided to make a list of things I’m thankful for. I sure need a gentle reminder today. 

• I have an amazing God who has been speaking to me like crazy through his scripture and through some other folks around me. I am so thankful for spans of time where I can feel his presence, where his Word pierces straight to my heart. Where my prayer time is sweet. In every Christian walk there are times of plenty and times of want, and I am thankful to be enjoying a time of plenty.
• Along the same line, I am thankful that God seems to be answering a prayer that I prayed fervently over the past year (no, I don’t have a boyfriend, I know you’re thinking it!). I have prayed that God will change my heart and my desires about one particular area of my life, and am watching an inexplicable change that can only be of Him. I can only pray that he continues to work.
• I have the sweetest dad in the whole wide world, who dropped everything today to go car shopping with his poor, stressed out daughter who is completely clueless about cars. I am also thankful that he lent me his truck to drive while Snowflake is taking her extended vacation to the mechanic.
• Even though my car has given me nothing but fits this summer, I am thankful that I was never once stranded, never had car problems at night, and only once had a problem on a weekend. Every time, I was able to get it to a mechanic to get the problem taken care of. This last time, I wasn’t able to make it to a mechanic (it happened on a Sunday) but I was able to make it safely home.
• I am blessed with some fantastic friends, and in particular some wonderful Christian girlfriends who are such an encouragement to me. Socially, they’re super fun. Spiritually, they challenge and encourage me in ways they’ll never realize meant so much to me.
• I have had the best summer ever. Not only did I kick it off with a fabulous European cruise and then a family wedding, but I have spent the past three weekends hanging out at the lake, spent the weekend before that riding down a river on an inner tube, enjoyed countless dinners out, dinners in, watched movies, and played as much as was humanly possible. I wish I could relive this summer a hundred times. It was pure bliss.
• Tomorrow I begin my VERY LAST DAY of graduate school! In 117 days, I’ll be walking across the stage at my graduation ceremony, sporting that dorky cap and gown and then celebrating in grand fashion with the party of the century. I can almost taste the freedom. And the free time.
• I am getting free tuition again this fall, and this time I don’t have to work as a grad assistant to get it! I just get the free tuition, no strings attached. You have no idea the relief I felt when I got the good news!
• I have a job that I love and I work for a boss that I respect.