Going Under the Hood: Installing a New Auto Battery

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With the new year approaching, it's time for "out with the old, in with the new."  And I experienced the perfect object lesson recently.  Subzero weather, relentless city driving, and leaving lights on here and there all conspired to drain the battery in our minivan just before Thanksgiving.  My kindly father took me to purchase a battery charger and we were good to go again!  And then we weren't.   Just a few weeks later, the old battery went "kaput." So said the mechanic who looked at it.

Lessons?  Ah yes, there were several.

• First, I should have charged the battery more often after it had been drained.  It may have frozen because I didn't keep it well-charged. 

• Second, we were able to manage without our second vehicle for almost two weeks.  I've always been convinced that owning a car is a luxury.  Owning two vehicles seems positively extravagant.  This incident demonstrated that we can indeed get by with "just" one car.  Also, I recognized the benefits of not filling my calendar with activities during this time of year.  I'm not a homebody by nature and prefer to be out and about.  However, it was nice not to have the pressure of having to be anywhere beyond our own neighborhood most of the time.

• Third, I learned a lot about auto batteries, including how to take one out and install a new one.  Thank you, real mechanics in eHow videos!  Rather than jump-start the minivan, I decided to take out the old battery and bring the suspect battery to Sam's Club.  There I had it tested and bought a new battery, which I installed at home myself.

While I begrudge the fact that we own two vehicles (resource-gobbling money pits that they are!), I am thankful to have learned more about how to maintain them.  The last time we had a dead battery in the other car, I simply called AAA.  They sent a tow truck, and after a jump start, I drove the car to a garage where they installed a new battery for me.  But it was so much more satisfying to do the job myself this time!  Kind of makes me want to walk around with a mechanic's swagger, though really I'm just a clueless wannabe.

It also seems that these battery episodes can be interpreted as a metaphor.  Numerous attempts to recharge my depleted inner resources have failed.  I need to swap out what's "old and busted" for new power, obtained from the Source of life, strength, and everlasting joy.

Are you mechanically inclined?

Have you ever felt utterly drained? 

Simply Celebrating Christmas: Ten Traditions

We decided to keep packaged gifts to a minimum this year, which left me wondering: how are we celebrating the season?  Yet as I reflected further, a number of our family traditions came to mind.  Coming up with a list Christmastime traditions we've developed (instead of a wish list) was a valuable exercise.  It helped me see that taking the focus off of stuff and celebrating the season in other simple, memorable ways truly is possible.


Here are some of the traditions we enjoyed this year:

1.  We chose new ornaments.

My ornament this year was inspired by passages in Isaiah.

2.  We performed a dramatic reading from Luke 2.  Our 7-year-old was the director and assigned the parts.  This year she was Mary, her little brother was Joseph, and Mama and her younger sister were angels.  Daddy was the donkey (and a shepherd).

3.  We took family portraits (and sent them as gifts).

4.  We sang Christmas carols at home and at church.

5.  We watched Christmas movies and specials, such as:

6.  We opened our time capsule ornament again (from 2001).

7. We made gingerbread cookies.

8. I savored a sample of my mom's fruitcake.

9. We connected with parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and siblings via phone calls.

10. We enjoyed spaghetti made from scratch by my husband.

What was a meaningful way for you to celebrate Christmas this year?

 

Words to Ponder this Season

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In this season of Advent, I want to quiet my heart and focus on what matters most.  The wisdom in these words is encouraging me to do that.

• Lay It Down: Can You Be Fully Present This Holiday Season? @ Sorta Crunchy

• White Envelope Giving @ the Goodlife

• He Said She Said: I wanted Christmas to be peaceful @ Kyria

And finally, here's a new favorite I recently discovered, "The Wexford Carol":

I'm linking this up to Saturday Stumbles today.

The Little Bell That I Remember

Music is one of my favorite ways to celebrate the joy of Christ's birth.  The angels were the first to sing, and we get to follow their example.  That irrepressible joy is something I'd like to recapture this year and every year.  Yet it's so very easy for the bustle of activities and the weight of all the things on my to-do list to interfere.  My husband mentioned a relevant article about how even striving for a simpler Christmas can result in burnout.  That's not what I want.

Joy.  Simple joy in Jesus.  That's what's worth pursuing.  And this year it means ruthlessly cutting out things that clutter my heart and mind.  Even good things.  Like all the goodies I'd like to bake, gifts I'd like to give, craft ideas I could post on this blog...

There's a little bell in this old Christmas program who can't help but ring out the good news.  She has an exuberant happiness over the birth of Jesus that she can't help but share.  Here are a few lyrics I recall:

Ringing bell, tidings tell,
Good news on earth, of Jesus birth,
Ring-ing Christmas bell.

I'm not sure if my parents still have the vinyl LP somewhere, but I'd love to refresh my memories.  Still, the main point remains.  My heart should be filled with joy that overflows in what I say and do.  For indeed there is "good news of great joy that that will be for all people" (Luke 2:10).

Let every heart prepare Him room!