Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Restoring Two Old Things for God's Use
Dear Courteous Reader,
After a period of waiting, God has graciously given me some meaningful work to do! Starting today, I have the privilege of repairing an old car and an old house for His use.
Back in October, I bought a 1986 Mercury Cougar for $800. It had been gently used and kept in the garage most of its life, but had spent a few painful months being unloved by a college student. When I bought it, it was undamaged, but dirty inside and out, low on oil, and low on coolant. It had a shredded belt, a turn signal stalk broken off, one headlight assembly smashed, and one tire flat. God helped me work on it, and within a week I had fixed all those minor problems on the cheap. After some vacuuming, washing, rubbing, and polishing, the old car looked and ran great. It passed inspection and entered God's service.
I drove the old car wherever God sent me for about one month, racking up 2,000 very stylish, pleasant, fuel efficient miles. (Our suburban is great, but it gets 12 mpg!) Then----I saw the dreaded tan color at the bottom of the dipstick, which means the head gasket (probably) is leaking antifreeze into the oil passages. The car has been sitting like that for two sad months, because repairs by a mechanic are cost prohibitive, and I had nowhere to work on it myself. But a few days ago my dear father-in-law, Larry Jones, offered me space under his carport to do repairs. I brought the car here yesterday, and today I get started! When the car is finished, it will be ready to take me back and forth several times between here (Arlington, TX) and Bonham, TX, where my next restoration project is located.
That project is the old parsonage at Grace Community Bible Church (sorry, no web site---yet!), a small, struggling reformed Baptist church in a wrong-side-of-the-tracks neighborhood. I’ll tell more about that project next time. For now, please pray that God will enable me by His Spirit to do some mechanic work and carpenter work to restore this old car and old house for His use!
Thank You to all of you who have cared about me, kept up with me, and prayed for me every since I left my old church in November. God is taking good care of my family and me in answer to your prayers, and in keeping with His faithfulness.
Love in Christ,
Jeff
After a period of waiting, God has graciously given me some meaningful work to do! Starting today, I have the privilege of repairing an old car and an old house for His use.
Back in October, I bought a 1986 Mercury Cougar for $800. It had been gently used and kept in the garage most of its life, but had spent a few painful months being unloved by a college student. When I bought it, it was undamaged, but dirty inside and out, low on oil, and low on coolant. It had a shredded belt, a turn signal stalk broken off, one headlight assembly smashed, and one tire flat. God helped me work on it, and within a week I had fixed all those minor problems on the cheap. After some vacuuming, washing, rubbing, and polishing, the old car looked and ran great. It passed inspection and entered God's service.
I drove the old car wherever God sent me for about one month, racking up 2,000 very stylish, pleasant, fuel efficient miles. (Our suburban is great, but it gets 12 mpg!) Then----I saw the dreaded tan color at the bottom of the dipstick, which means the head gasket (probably) is leaking antifreeze into the oil passages. The car has been sitting like that for two sad months, because repairs by a mechanic are cost prohibitive, and I had nowhere to work on it myself. But a few days ago my dear father-in-law, Larry Jones, offered me space under his carport to do repairs. I brought the car here yesterday, and today I get started! When the car is finished, it will be ready to take me back and forth several times between here (Arlington, TX) and Bonham, TX, where my next restoration project is located.
That project is the old parsonage at Grace Community Bible Church (sorry, no web site---yet!), a small, struggling reformed Baptist church in a wrong-side-of-the-tracks neighborhood. I’ll tell more about that project next time. For now, please pray that God will enable me by His Spirit to do some mechanic work and carpenter work to restore this old car and old house for His use!
Thank You to all of you who have cared about me, kept up with me, and prayed for me every since I left my old church in November. God is taking good care of my family and me in answer to your prayers, and in keeping with His faithfulness.
Love in Christ,
Jeff
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