Growth (a second look at the WordPress weekly photo challenge)

Growth. Supposedly it’s what happens to you when you’re going through difficulties.

I’m 46. Aren’t I allowed to be exempt from chaos by now?

Last Thursday, we set out to visit our family on a “quick overnight trip”. We figured we’d be back home by Friday night.

Instead, our truck overheated, and we found out that the thermostat was bad. After replacing that ($200), the truck continued to overheat.

We are now on day three of our quick overnight trip, and the truck has gone to Chevy for further work. At this point, we are hoping it’s nothing worse than a blown head gasket–the replacement of which we’ve been told will run between $2,000 and $3,000.

In an ideal world, it would be a faulty temperature sensor.

Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

The hardest part is sitting through the anxiety. There is the financial anxiety, the worry about what’s really wrong with the truck, and the dawning understanding that we will likely get home too late for me to attend a social studies 2-day workshop I’d planned to attend.

Then there is the waiting. When will the truck be done? They do work today, but my truck may not be a priority since they already had a number of appointments. And they are closed tomorrow. Which means if it isn’t fixed today (which it probably won’t be), we will be here until Monday or Tuesday.

Did I mention anxiety runs in our family? The waiting is so hard because of all the unanswered questions. I really, really don’t like all the uncertainty.

That said…

There are blessings here.

* The truck didn’t break down on a random highway somewhere.
* The truck got us all the way to 30 seconds away from my cousin’s home before overheating.
* We get extra time with the cousins before they move to California next week.
* I am actually resting my plantar fasciitis injury, since there is nowhere to go (my cousins had to go to NYC for the day).
* We are all safe, healthy, and together.
* This didn’t happen when we were on a long trip with the girls’ grandmother, nor did it happen on our way back from Ikea with a load of furniture for my mother-in-law (in short, the only better scenario would have been blowing out the head gasket at home).
* We have a washer and dryer to clean our clothes, and a pantry and fridge full of food.
* There are computers, Wii games, Internet, tv, and a fabulous hypoallergenic kitty named Ivan that I can pet without suffering from allergies.
* The three goldfish my daughter won at the fair with the cousins are alive and happily swimming in a stock pot.
* Did I mention extra time with the cousins?

I called a few minutes ago and spoke to the guys at Barton Birks Chevrolet. They said they will get their first look at my truck any time now.

So we wait. And I get to grow: in patience, and in learning how to deal with anxiety and crisis, and in dealing with it (again) when bad things happen when you’re stretched thin financially.

You know that old saying about how God only gives you as much as you can handle?

On days like this, I wish He didn’t trust me so much.

Aloha!