A Lotta Trouble Lookin' Back

I guess it is just a reminder of how good things have been, or an attack of Satan. But in addition to my van being in the shop (until Tuesday!), I got in my truck and the rearview mirror was dangling by a cord. Sigh. When it comes to fixing things, I'm not even up to par with Tim Allen. If I were Bob Villa, "This Old House" would be "It's Still This Old Broken Down House, But Now With New Things To Fix". And that's too long a title for a tv show. Manfully, I went to Auto Zone in which I became invisible. I'm always invisible in Auto Zone. I think there's a sixth sense that the workers have whenever someone like me comes in. They can sense that I'm going to ask a question like, "You know that doohickey that holds on to the whatnot that kinda looks like a handle, but it doesn't open anything? Well, it broke. How do I fix it?" So they busy themselves. I swear one of them had a phone up to his ear chatting to no one about a part that doesn't exist. Well, they couldn't ignore me forever. All I wanted was an adhesive sticker with which I could stick my mirror back to the windshield. Ha! Are you kidding? I was handed a small unimpressive packet and told to follow instructions. Ok. When I got to looking at it, I realized I was going to need a chemistry degree to use it. Sheesh. So of course I put it off for a few days. But a few days of the mirror swinging around in front of me convinced me that an accident was immanent. This morning I decided I want to be able to look back. First I had to remove the button from the mirror. This button is what is actually glued to the windshield that holds the mirror up. Remember that the mirror is suspended by a cord that powers some lights. I figure it's just a plug of some sort but it won't come out. So I'm bent forward awkwardly trying to get this button out. I spent 30 minutes trying and finally decided that wasn't going to happen. I would just hold the mirror there for the prescribed time. Next I had to break a vial ... yes ... break a vial and allow some dangerous substance to infiltrate a felt tip. I kept imagining cutting my finger and allowing this stuff to seep into my bloodstream, turning me into the Hulk when I get angry, or into the Lump when I get depressed. Anyways... I put some of the substance on the windshield in the right place (marked by a crayon from the outside - I could handle that part). Then I had to put some adhesive on the button. I took the top off ... it doesn't have a hole in it ... so I used some emergency fingernail clippers I had handy (oddly enough) and clipped the end off of the glue. I put it on the button, placed it on the windshield (where it slid around for a second). I held it there for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably 30 seconds. It stuck! Oh this is good. I was feeling pretty good about it and decided to turn the mirror.....which knocked it off the windshield totally. I scrambled to repeat the process, not knowing if it would work. It did. Fifteen minutes later it is still on the windshield. We'll see how long it stays there. That's a lot of trouble to look back. If I become too enamored with my mirror and always look back, I'll never be able to do anything but crash. But I can learn some things by looking back. And even if it is a lotta trouble lookin' back, I can usually see a little more clearly what God has been doing, what I've been doing, and how to merge my ways with His. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:13b-14]