Have you ever had something smell in your car, and you cannot figure out what it is? If you haven’t, then you probably do not have kids. Ha. But, if you remember, I just recently got this new-to-me car; it’s not even six months old. There is no reason that there should be an odor coming from it that is so hard to find.
While I originally made the rule that there was no eating or drinking in the car, Christmas light and hot chocolate candy adventures happened, and well, those rules went out the window. Until this week, when I literally pulled everything out of my car and searched high and low for the stench culprit and still couldn’t find it when I vowed that no one would ever have even as much as a piece of gum in my car.
But guys, this smell, it was driving me crazy. It wasn’t completely overbearing, I mean, I didn’t feel like it was saturating into my clothes, and I was stinking up every place I went into. In fact, typically, after a few minutes of the car running and me driving, I barely noticed it. But every once in a while, I would get another whiff and blah. I had to find what was causing it.
So again, everything was pulled out – even the constant items like my work bag, car seats, middle console contents and glove box ingredients. After 10 more looks under the seats and in any hidden compartments I could find — and even popping the hood and making sure there wasn’t something dead under there — I finally put everything back in its place and gave up for the night feeling defeated.
As I got into my car the next morning, I was again greeted by that awful stench. Usually on the way to work, I throw up my morning prayers for the day and chat with my Mama. That morning, my Mama had to get ready for an appointment and couldn’t talk. So, I was left there with just my prayers, which would have been fine – trust me, I have plenty to both pray for and thank God for to fill in the time.
Yet, the entire drive to work, my prayers kept getting distracted by that smell. In between “thank you, Jesus” and “please be with” I was wracking my brain about what I was missing with that smell. Where could it be coming from?
Finally, and almost hearing myself laugh in my head as I prayed it — in pure desperation, I asked God to please help me figure out what was stinking up my car. Then I chuckled. Of all the things to pray about in this world, here I was throwing up a prayer because of an annoying aroma. Something so small and, well, dumb.
When I got into work, I dropped off my bag and coffee and was away from my desk for most of the morning. Around lunchtime, I returned to my desk, sat down to catch up on emails and was greeted by an all-too-familiar stench. It followed me!
Slowly, I glared down at my workbag — the collector and carrier of practically half of my possessions. It had to be in there!
Forgetting it had so many pockets, I went to town! Finally, in pocket number 27, I found my culprit – or culprits. Slimy, smashed up and green were two hard-boiled eggs in a sandwich bag from one day (who knows when) when my breakfast never made it from my bag to my belly and was forgotten about.
The mystery was finally solved! It wasn’t my car that smelled. It was my bag that was always in my car making it smell! The relief, the accomplishment, the awful stench of it up close.
And, the prayer.
Seriously, that morning prayer felt almost like a joke as I prayed it. I’m sure the Big Guy upstairs has far more important things to take care of than my stinky car (or, in this case, bag). But then it dawned on me, that is what I do – give all the big things to God but try to handle all the “small” things all on my own like I am afraid to bother Him with petty things.
But, God, He doesn’t just want the big things, He wants all the things – even the small things matter to Him. With a smile on my face as I disposed of the moldy mess, I simply looked up and said “thank you.”
No, not just for relieving me of that awful smell, but more importantly reminding me that I can literally bring any and everything to Him, even something as small as some rotten eggs.
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