On Car Maintanence

Ever since my sister JM got her car, I have enjoyed working on cars. She let me help change oil, change tires, and other little repairs. I say "work on cars" in a very loose way. The most complicated thing I've done was to change the cabin air filter. On my car, this would normally be a five minute job. Oh, but the town I live in doesn't seem to appreciate my Korean-born car. I was smart enough to look-up the part number that I needed and go to the closest car part store. I was a little upset that they didn't have it but I thought, "I'll just go to their other location a couple of miles away." Luckily, I was smart enough to ask an employee if he could check the availability before I left. That particular store doesn't carry the part . . . in any of their stores nation-wide. Yes, it was on the web site but that was only for those who wanted it special ordered. Ha! I wasn't going to fall for that money hole so I set off to go to their competitor.

 After checking their telephone book-like guide on proper parts for every car known to man, I began my search on the shelves. Lo and behold, they had none. I did not even bother to ask if another branch had it. I moved to my last resort, my personal hell: the ever-overcrowded Wal-Mart (God help my soul). After looking through their manuals and finding blank spaces for "cabin air filter", I simply asked an employee. No Wal-Mart in the United Freaking States of America has my filter in stock. They do not even do special orders. At this point you must think I own an Opal or a 1969 Mustang *drool*. Nope. I drive a Kia Spectra. It may not be as popular as Honda but it was not specially shipped here just for me.

I ended my search and just went home. I thanked God for online shopping until I actually started shopping. Amazon.com sells two brands of filters that fit my car. One costs twelve dollars but would take a month to arrive. The other costs eighteen but I could get it in a matter of days. I chose the more expensive in hopes that I might get it before the weekend. All in all, I suppose all of the insanity was worth it just to avoid a $55 bill to have a professional do it.

Stop looking so smug. I hate your perfectly white fibers.

A new church

I'm not known to be someone who purposefully goes past her comfort level. This is true with religion and, more specifically, where I attend church services. I have been going to the same type of church my entire life. I was born and raised in one sect of Christianity and have only been to a handful of services for different types of Christianity. As I meet more Christians, my ideas about Christianity have changed slightly. I have realized that all of these different sects of Christianity are not, for the most part, very different from each other. Yes, services can be incredibly varied from church to church but the underlying command never changes: love.

Yesterday was my first time to go to a Sunday service at a church that falls into the same traditions with which my boyfriend grew up knowing. The only things that I found different were the music and the congregation. Some of the music was not what I prefer for Sunday service. However, I did enjoy the challenge to sight sing music with complex melodies. It has been a long time since I have seen a 6/8 time signature. The music wasn't what caught my attention though.

I have never met a group of such outgoing people in a church. It seemed that almost everyone wanted to introduce themselves to us and welcome us personally to their church. No one tried to push us into joining, donating money, or taking part in their ministries. They simply expressed their happiness to meet us and their hope that they would see us again. What actually shocked me was that not a soul found it odd that I was not the same type of Christian as them and that I have no plans of changing that. I learned that this church had Baptists, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, etc and it didn't matter. My boyfriend and I agreed that these Christians seem to look at our religion in the same light. We may give ourselves different names for what we believe but that's not what matters. In the end, we all were there to praise God, learn how to love, and to support each other. This is a church that seems to have the message right: love God, follow his laws, and love each other. The rest will come along naturally.