Bonding with the car...

Call it an "unusal family project"--in my sister's terms--but it was through thick and thin that our whole family got involved in this fiasco with a tiny screw that my mum accidentally dropped into one of the hidden compartments below the car bonnet. What a terror that little cap that belonged to the car battery system (you know one of those yellow caps that you get so irritated with everytime cos' you gotta unscrew them one by one to fill the battery water and then screw them back one by one again)! Y'know maybe someone should rethink the design of this whole devise. But anyway, just to pre-empt anyone going to top up the battery water--please exercise the ultimate most level of care or you'll find yourself in a huge pickle...perhaps much worse than us. I must say we were pretty resourceful with the ideas and our dexterity was intact and tip top to handle this fiercesome task! For those of you who don't know nuts about cars...let's just say this go to the mechanic or kiosk to get your fluids and stuff checked--never attempt anything at home! For those of you who are more garang and willing to get your hands dirty, please place your battery caps in a safe place lest they fall into the deep and dark corners of the compartments below the bonnet.

But anyway, 'nuff said about the bloomin' car. It was truly a family bonding session, I guess. Bit like a modified version of a Twister game--y'know the one where everyone contorts their limbs and trunks. No, please don't go away with the idea that dropping a battery cap is the way to go. I'm just saying that...to look at this in a positive light would be to see this as our family bonding session. In Christian terms, we were really like the body of Christ. Each one of us played a critical role in getting that little fella to budge. My dad, the incident commander, led us through the ordeal of trying all sorts--the best method we conclude is masking tape on a measuring tape and loads of sweat and steady arms. My mum was the logistician, supplying us with all the odds and ends--our ammunition--to pull that fella out. She ran up and downstairs to get whatever we requested--must have lost a lot of weight! My sis, the one with the tiniest hands, secured us the entry. She made sure the wires were pulled to a corner so my dad could carefully remove the cap without obstruction. And I, the youngest, put my steady arms and hands to good use by holding onto the torchlight, giving my dad and sis a good shot of the enemy. Let there be light, AMEN! Those few moments we hauled the fella out were analogous to detonating a bomb man!

After a series of unsuccessful trials and errors, we eventually saw the victory...oh sweet ole victory! It surrendered, that stubborn little fella! The learning lessons besides the annoying thing about car battery caps?

1. God is great! He uses the weirdest scenarios to bring us together to do the most absurd things. Endurance, concentration and throwing in all sorts of plausible ideas, I must say our family is pretty good at fixing problems and teamwork!

2. There's always a purpose for everything. Someone just had to be the one who got us into that situation. In this case, my mum was the one who dropped the cap, but anyone could have done so. I could easily argue that I was responsible cos' I drive the car most often and I should be maintaining it on my own. We could all fight to take the blame, but the bottomline is to move on and see the bigger picture---yep, our family project.

3. Family is one of God's greatest gifts to us. Though we gripe about getting into this "shithole", it is through such incidents where you realise that no matter what, your family members are always so willing to get you out of the "shithole". I remember that since young I have been jinxed when it came to technical stuff and art. My sis would always help me with both, like the time when my cassette tape got stuck in the player (years back man) or I did something horrid to the OS of the PC. Sure, there were one or two utters of complaint but it was always with a willing heart that she got me out of trouble before I met with serious trouble from my parents. And oh yah, my mum who would lovingly help me with my art and home econs! So family is one of the most reliable things one can have in the world!

Truly God rules and He's got the most CREATivity...that's why He's the CREATor. An "unusual family project" no doubt about that.