What happened to the AC

Last fall, while it was still a little too warm for us folks that are spoiled to having air conditioning in our vehicles, my car vents began to only blow heat. Jason decided to have it looked at by a mechanic at an automotive shop. Long story short, it would be $600 to have it fixed. On the diagnosis slip was a side note in all caps: CLEAN OUT THE GLOVEBOX!!! A lot of the stuff in it had fallen out behind it and caused it to mess up. Napkins, forks, straws and some papers were removed by the mechanic. My justification- my Dad has always taught us to be prepared. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve gone through a drive-thru and someone didn’t get a straw? How many times I’ve had to blow my nose on those valuable napkins? How many times that chili cheese hot dog has come without a fork? My famous words, “Look in the glove box” have suddenly become bad words.

I thought that was a lot of money to pay in the fall of the year for some air conditioning. Thankfully, Jason (my husband), just happens to know a guy that works on cars. His girlfriend knows a pretty good bit too. (There’s you some recognition Brandy [insert smiley face].) Anyhow, he looked around and told us what was going on. If you reach up in behind the glove box, there’s a little bar. You push it back, you have air. You pull it forward, you have heat. I had some sticky tack (again, preparedness), the kind teachers used to use to hang things on the wall in their classroom, so I decided I’d stick that back there on that bar to hold it back. I think it was around $60 for a diagnosis and for someone to tell me I need to clean out my glove box. In my mind, this solution would do.

Fast forward almost a year- the day before yesterday to be exact. I was in the car and the air conditioner stopped, then came back on. A few minutes later it stopped completely. Even though it was a different situation, first thing I did was reach for that bar. The sticky tack was holding strong so then my second thought was maybe it’s a fuse. My third thought- man, it’s hot. When I got home I started searching online. I was in the glove box looking around, then I popped the hood (like I was going to do something). Jason came out to the car and started checking fuses. I told him maybe it was the blower motor. After all, I watched a video. He said he hated when I started acting like I was a mechanic. Haha

Later I went out to my parents’ house. My Dad got his testing kit out. I told him what I saw on the video so we unplugged the motor and he tested it. Only thing was, I quit watching the video when I saw you had to have a testing kit. I thanked my Dad and came back home. Jason called the guy that he knows that works on vehicles and he came the next morning. He took the blower motor off and you’ll never guess what was in it. A napkin and a fork. That was the wrong  place to set the table. I suddenly had a flashback to those capital letters that I took offense to almost a year ago: CLEAN OUT THE GLOVE BOX!!! The next words from my mouth after “oooh noooo,” were, “Don’t tell Jason about this.” For the price of the motor I could have some nice cloth napkins and some sturdy silverware that wouldn’t easily be sucked up in to the motor.

Later in the day Jason called and asked if I had AC in the car. I said, “Yes. And you’ll never guess what caused it.” I proceeded to tell him about the napkin and fork. I think he might have said, “Priscilla!” but he didn’t give me a hard time about it and I was glad (and I never said a word about that dirt on the floor I wrote about yesterday haha).

Proverbs 1:7 KJV says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” If I turned this around spiritually, I think that verse sounds fitting for this hot little situation I found myself in, don’t you?

I’m all about being prepared, yet I need to make sure I store what I have properly- such as in a plastic container. With a lid. Not in the glove box. I’m all about someone giving me advice but I’m afraid pride set in there when I saw those capital letters. I am really stubborn and that’s not always a good thing. I NEED instruction. If only I had listened, but I didn’t and it cost us. Again, affecting more than just me.

It doesn’t really matter how the advice in all caps about cleaning the glove box out was given. It was instruction and I didn’t want to hear it because it was telling me I was wrong. It’s not that I feared the mechanic, yet my rebellious self didn’t like the way it was said. Instead of wanting to be ashamed, hearing I was wrong or being told what to do, I thought, “What does he know?” and “How dare him tell me to clean something out like that!”

Maybe that’s how people think of the Lord. That He’s some kind of Creator that just wants to tell us what to do or put us to shame. That’s totally wrong. He wants us to listen and learn. He wants us to gain wisdom and welcome instruction. It’s to help us so we can have the best He has to offer. It’s to keep us from having problems down the road of life. It is to protect us from going to an eternal place that is too hot (with no AC). It is because He loves us.

Thanks for reading!