My Four Big Game Changers

I've been talking to my family lately about "game changers." These are developments that improve some area of life, ease difficulty, and boost motivation. I've encountered multiple game changers in the last couple of months.

Our Personal Mechanic- We should all have our own Subaru mechanic on call. Until recently, my family has been taking our old Subarus to the dealer. This involves driving to another town and forking over thousands of dollars for repairs. There are telephone calls, trips back and forth, working around a missing car for days, and uncertainty about the bill.

But a few weeks ago, my younger daughter happened to be at a body shop for a mishap that tore off her bumper (her car had been sitting in the parking lot minding its own business when it happened, so it was definitely not her fault). The vehicle was pronounced totaled, but the guy at the shop had pity on my shaken-up daughter and recommended this young mechanic who knew Subarus and was working on starting a business. In a couple of days, this fledgling business owner had not only secured a replacement bumper ("That's not coming off anytime soon," he said), but also installed a new radio and rang us up at around $600 for everything.

The real upsides of this arrangement became clear on Friday night when my 2006 Subaru, which has been a money pit ever since we bought it, started making a sound akin to a chain-link fence being dragged behind it. I didn't dare drive it further--it felt like something was obstructing the wheel. Surely this was serious. I pulled over, jammed on my hazards, and began the routine of calling family members and the insurance company tow service, with my younger daughter quickly circling back and joining me in my cold winter evening plight. "This thing should probably just be totaled," I said, envisioning more chilly evenings in the glow of the hazards.

However, in spite of the long wait for the tow truck, it was heavenly to see a much smaller fee for a tow to a house just a few miles away. And for the mechanic to promptly answer texts past 8:00 pm, cheerfully inviting us to have the car brought over. Around the time we arrived at our warm house, he called us, and not just to confirm that the vehicle had arrived. He'd already discovered the problem and fixed it--a rock wedged between some plate and the brake.

He quickly agreed to investigate the list of other problems that had been weighing on us, and particularly for the knocking sound that I had thought was complex enough to be a dealer issue. He addressed the problem with the power window right away, however, and charged $40 for the rock and the window when we came to pick up the vehicle less than 24 hours later. We gave him $50 and, since he'd located the culprit behind the knocking noise (I think he said it's the sway bar) agreed to bring the car back for a $200 dollar fix--as soon as the parts came in from Amazon. One of the best things he did, however, was affirm our choice of vehicle. "That's a really good car," he said.

Brooms for Snow- Shoveling the back deck offers advantages of fresh air, exercise, and reflection time. The job can be a pain, however, when there are nooks and crannies that the clumsy shovel just can't access. The work can be slow, too, taking around thirty minutes in the cold. Enter the brooms. My husband introduced me to the push broom that speeds up the job when we've just had an inch or two of dry snow. It's almost fun gliding across the porch to deposit the load over the edge. And the push broom is great for clearing off the barbecue and ridding the railings of accumulation. However, it wasn't cutting it for the porch steps or other narrow areas. For those, I discovered that the ordinary little household broom with plastic bristles takes care of everything. Bring on the snow!

Work Gloves for Firewood-I don't know what I've been doing for the past eighteen years that we've lived here, but this year I'm wearing good work gloves whilst carrying in firewood from the garage or replenishing the wood stove. The gloves protect my hands from slivers and rough edges and provide traction for large, dense pieces. I've gone from an obligatory contributor of a few pieces a day to an enthusiastic wood carrier. I now make a light morning exercise routine out of hauling in two pieces of wood at a time until the basket is piled high for the day. And out of either sweetness or self-interest, my younger daughter bought me a three-pack of Costco work gloves for Christmas.

ESV Study Bible-My older daughter got me a nicely bound, hefty ESV Study Bible for Christmas, and it's a major game changer—it's so absorbing and well-written and helpful. She had received one for Christmas herself a couple years ago, and I'd decided I wanted one as well when I noticed diagrams and notes, but had no idea how well done it was until I explored my own copy. Not only does it have maps and illustrations, introductions to books, and explanatory notes under the text, but also a series of interesting articles at the back.