Oil Change

A reflection about God and a thought that is worth holding onto.

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A few weeks ago I went in for another oil change for my car. It reminded me of this writing I shared last year. This was one of my favorite pieces I wrote in all of 2024. Hope you enjoy it.

Sometimes I feel like I am just floating through life.

Life is happening and it is happening to me.

It’s happening to me right now as I sit in a worn out chair in the waiting room of the mechanic’s shop.

I took my car in to get an oil change and now it needs a new air filter, drive belts, radiator hoses, transmission fluid, front brakes, and something called additional service repair.

All of this seems important.

My bill has gone from manageable to overwhelming, and now I’m mentally listing all the things I could have done with that money.

This is not a helpful exercise.

I’m in the waiting room and the woman next to me has taken four phone calls in ten minutes and each time she has to explain that she is at the car dealership getting an oil change.

She says the word “oil” in the slowest, most Southern way I’ve ever heard.

Ooouuulll.

I didn’t know a three-letter word could take so long to say.

A mechanic walks in, his hands covered in grease.

The last time I had grease on my hands was last night, from the bacon I made in the oven.

We were having breakfast for dinner.

The last time I had grease on my hands was last night, from the bacon I made in the oven.

We were having breakfast for dinner.

Breakfast for dinner is a cheat code for life.

It’s easy and delicious and by saying you’re having breakfast for dinner it makes it sound like a choice, not like we ran out of ideas.

But we did.

We ran out of ideas.

We couldn’t make a decision because my wife and I were too tired.

These days we are good at being tired.

But at least we had bacon.

I washed my hands 7 times while preparing it to be cooked.

I work with my hands, but not like these mechanics do.

My hands don’t have a single callus.

You have to work hard to get a callus, but you also have to work hard to not get one.

My hands are smooth and clean like the hands of a toddler.

They know their way around the keyboard of a computer, but are lost under the hood of a car.

When I saw my bill I asked the mechanic if there were any coupons and he told me he would find something to help me.

Kindness is never far, but sometimes you have to speak up for it to find you.

I’m waiting for them to finish up.

They said it would be ready any minute, but that was 30 minutes ago.

I’m in no hurry.

Even if I was, I'd still be waiting.

Sometimes you can either decide to be in a hurry or to just be.

Right now I am choosing to just be.

I’m sipping coffee and just took my email down to 2 unread messages.

The problem is I don’t know where those other 2 emails are.

I hope God has a better system for prayers than I do for emails.

I’m certain He does.

I bet God has calluses on His hands.

Those who know how to fix things usually do.

I imagine God’s hands are worn and strong.

You can’t hold the whole world in your hands if they are weak.

Sometimes I forget that He has the whole world in His hands.

And if He’s got the whole world in His hands that includes me.

And that’s what I’m holding onto today.

I am not just floating through life, but I am being held by the strong hand of God.

With Hope,

Tanner Olson

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