So, for those of you who do not know, I was in a car accident near the end of March (which was my fault, not a great look). Thankfully everyone was okay, but not so thankfully, my truck of the last 6 years was not so lucky. We’ll now take a brief moment of silence to honor Bessy, the 2001 Taco(ma)......
Thank you
Well, as you guys are well aware, it’s difficult to exist in today’s world without a vehicle, especially when you are working in person. Now, I assumed that getting a new car would be a headache, but a headache I’d have squared away before I had to give back my rental in a couple weeks time. Well, you know what they say about assuming... you look like a big ol idiot. Let’s just say a month of being carless, with two weeks of borrowing Jeb’s car for work tacked on at the end there (the largest King move of 2021, ily Jeb), I now have a car and I could not be more excited to be able to drive again. One of my first real adulting experiences ruthlessly kicked my ass-umptions of how it would go. It was one dang good practice run for life!
When telling the boys I needed a car for the second week in a row, Austin Kinne said with a grin, “One day Tommy, one day you won’t see us helping you as an inconvenience”. The son of a gun knows me too well. My escapade without a car left me painfully aware of how uncomfortable dependency makes me. Having to ask others for help always makes me feel disjointed, off balance even. I always wince at the idea of inconveniencing someone else with my problems, telling myself I am loving people better by not burdening them. Yet, this year has slowly pried open the armor I have placed around my heart and allowed the Lord’s mercies and truths to shine through.
“If dependence (on God) is the goal, then weakness is an advantage” How does my daily view of dependence permeate and affect my view of it with my heavenly father. How much does my day by day, hour by hour, even minute by minute denial of my need for other’s help convince me that I do not need God’s help. How quickly does my vision become blurred, and how easily tricked am I into thinking I am capable of doing literally anything apart from my Father’s strength. I hate being dependent. I can confidently say I do not enjoy seeking other’s help. I enjoy the illusion that I can do all things by myself. Funny how much I enjoy being wrong isn’t it? But, I’ve noticed I enjoy it far less than I used to. The car buying experience was a very practical analogy for what a lot of this year has been like for me. It’s reassuring to know that my God is a father who loves me so much that he doesn’t want me to have to go through life on my own. Loneliness follows my perceived independence like a sad shadow, and my God is a light who casts out such lies. The pressure cooker that the last few weeks has indeed been a good practice run for life.
Learning with each passing day to embrace my weakness, and allow the Lord to use it to his advantage.
- Tommy Rychener
Ps: I got McDonald’s today and my order number was 65, which means I was one car away from executing order 66 on May the 4th.
