Car is back in the shop

I didn't get as much done at work today, but what I did get done was important. It involved a good bit of research to figure it out. On the way home, I was stopped at a signal about three cars back when I saw smoke coming out of my hood. I decided this wasn't a good thing. I instantly turned off my car, set the parking break, turned on my emergency flashers and got out of the car. The smoke stopped, so I popped the hood to see what was happening. I am still not sure what it was, but I am definitely leaking a good amount of engine coolant. After looking for several minutes, I decided it would be okay to drive the two hundred yards to the gas station. There were several blessings in this though. I talked with my grandpa about it, and he said that it shouldn't be too expensive to fix, so that is a major blessing. Another huge blessing is that the smoke came when it did. If I was going at a high speed, I probably wouldn't have seen it since it was on the passenger side. It was also a blessing that I wasn't on the side of a freeway or something, I was able to whip a u-turn and park on the side of the road. A young guy that was walking on the sidewalk stopped to look at it. He used a lot of words that are in the four letter variety, but it was nice of him to offer his help anyway. Another blessing is that I got paid today. I wasn't expecting to be paid until the end of next week, but my boss wrote me a check today. It is a bit of a bummer that I'm having to put out more money on the car, but there were big blessings as well. As I sat in my car, I started reading some more in Jeremiah. I was reminded again to trust in the Lord. As I continued reading in chapter 18, verses 4-6 really caught my attention.

But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

I think of how I like to see my plans work, when God's plans are best--always! When I put my plans before God's, my heart is hardened to the work that He is trying to do in my heart. I want with all my heart to be soft and changeable by God for His glory.