This was a lesson on following the spirit and a reminder of God's tender mercies.
Sometimes I'm really good at following promptings, and at other times I'm really bad at it. About three weeks ago I had taken our car to the mechanic shop to have them check on a sound that it had been making. On my way down the sound stopped (kind of like when your tooth magically stops hurting on the drive to the dentist). They test drove the car and couldn't get it to reproduce the sound, but they mentioned to me that the "clutch was all the way at the top and should be replaced soon."
That night I talked to Kevin about the clutch and we decided that we should get the clutch replaced. The plan was to have me call on Monday and schedule it. Monday came and I had a prompting reminding me to call. I was taking care of my daughter at the time and decided to wait until a more convenient time. Later that day I was trying to plan a trip to the thrift store to get some warm baby clothes and had a thought that I should invite my sister-in-law and her daughter to come with me. We set up a time to go on Wednesday.
Tuesday, I again did not call the mechanic. The car was running well and the sound hadn't returned (this could be likened to a "false sense of security").
Wednesday we arranged the carseats in the back seat of the car and headed to the thrift store. We found some great winter wear for our little girls and then headed home. We were about 3/4 of the way back to my home and coming to a stop light when the clutch gave out. Thankfully it happened in neutral, so the car continued running and I was able to come to a complete stop. The growling noise returned along with a terrible squeal, a smokey smell, and the inability to shift. We both began praying to know what to do. The light turned green and I waved to people to go around us as I worked on trying to get the clutch to a position where I could shift. Slowly, like moving a stuck piano key, the clutch rose with pressure from my foot. By just barely tapping it I was able to shift into first and we continued on our way. At each intersection I would barely tap the clutch and force the stick into gear amidst squealing, growling, and terrible smells. I felt that I should just drive it down to the mechanic shop without going home. So, I dropped my sister off at the corner by our house and continued driving while she ran to her car to follow us down. We (two sleeping babies and myself) made it to the shop without incident. My sister arrived shortly after and began transferring babies and shopping bags to her car while I went in and, a little embarrassed, arranged to have our clutch replaced.
The end of the story is that they had to order in the part, and we all arrived home safely.
In hindsight, if I had followed the prompting to schedule the clutch replacement on Monday the part would've been already on order and maybe even at the shop. Thankfully I followed the prompting to invite my sister-in-law to go shopping with me that day, so that she was able to have a car to help us out and so I wasn't going through it all on my own. The day could've been very stressful, but it ended up being an enjoyable adventure with her there (yes, having a clutch go out is NOT enjoyable, but having a positive person with you can make it so).
One of the other big blessings of the day was that the two babies fell asleep as we were driving home and remained asleep through all of the car crazziness. I have found that my stress levels rise very quickly when my daughter is upset. Having her asleep during this time helped me to remain calm and focused.
I know that Heavenly Father loves His children and provides us with many opportunities to grow and learn. He had given me several reminders to call the mechanic and I had not heeded them. However, He still blessed me and provided a way for me to get that car into the shop safely.
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