The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we packed up our little blue Ford Explorer and headed out to Denver, Colorado to spend the holiday with Jake’s oldest sister and her family. About two hours into the trip, the car jolted, the o/d light started flashing, and the check engine light went on. It was clear that the transmission was going out. 🙁 Fortunately we had 10 hours of driving ahead of us, so we talked cars. New cars, used cars, car repairs. And we prayed. A lot.
We made it safely to Denver and had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. We ate lots of good food and the kids had a blast playing nonstop with their cousins.
And then came Friday, and I just remember being so cold going from car to car and place to place looking for a vehicle to take us home. And hopefully one that would last us a long time, had plenty of space, could tow a boat…(this list was quite long.) I hate car shopping and being frugal. And practical. And except for the free hot chocolate, I really didn’t enjoy the experience at all.
After many hours of shopping, nothing felt right. We were tired and grumpy.
On the way home, we talked about our Explorer and what we were going to do with it. We got a few trade in offers, but nothing that substantiated the worth of the car. It would be worth far more to Jake’s nephew in Denver. He had just returned from his mission and he was looking for a car to take to school in a few months. Jake mentioned giving it to him, and we decided that was probably the best thing to do since we have felt quite blessed lately. And it seems that when we give, we are well taken care of in the end. And we were!
We came home from our shopping and researched more. And prayed more.
Around 11pm when I had mostly exhausted my online search, Jake handed me his phone and said, “This is the car I want.” I looked at it briefly and said with a bit of surprise, “This is the one I want too!” I felt excitement and relief and gratitude all at the same time.
And that’s the crazy thing about it, it was exactly what I wanted. And exactly what we needed.
So we went to the dealer first thing in the morning, spent a few hours with the car getting a few concerns addressed, paid right under our budget, and drove away in our 2005 Yukon.
And now as we drive through this snowstorm on our way home, we are humbled by the series of events and how well everything worked out. We know that God’s hand is in the details of our lives. Our car started having issues at just the right time because we wouldn’t have taken it to Denver if the issues were apparent before we left. Not that we wanted car issues, but it was great timing because it put us in Denver where we would have more options for buying a car than in our little area of N Dakota, and it enabled us to get our car to Jake’s nephew just when he needed it.
I have no doubt that when we do our best to follow God’s commandments and ask for His help when we need it, we will never be on our own. He will help us, and things will work out. We didn’t come away with a brand new car, but we got just what we needed.
I see His hand in my life every day and every day my faith grows stronger. I know that He is there and that He wants to help us. And that is so comforting.
