The day started off pretty rough. Friday night was a youth-all-nighter and for those of you who don't know what that is, you have the better end of the stick i.e. no sleep, complete chaos, and too much sugar/red bull induced teens menacing their youth leaders all night long. Lucky for me, most the girls in the youth group are still pretty young and weren't ready to stay the night but my dear husband wasn't so lucky. He got a whopping 4 hours of sleep from 8a to 12p when he arrived home Saturday morning. For some odd reason I thought I should stay up on my own at home watching a depressing chick flick with a friend til about 4a. Not sure what my thought process was but you get the point - sleep deprivation is a nasty trick. It pretty much makes you sick to your stomach like other morning ailments. Oh and coffee doesn't help because you already have a headache and are so green faced that it just makes those feelings more vivid and intense - unfortunately we found that out the hard way.
So it's noon and we have been looking for a car for over two months. Today is the day and we both know it. We have found the perfect car, the perfect price, even the perfect color. From what the seller said, people had come to look at it on Friday and being that it is a very popular car, we had slim to none chance it would be there Saturday for us to see. But boy is the Lord faithful. In the words of my husband, if its still there when our schedule allows, then we know that the Lord has it for us. If not, He has something better. I know he was right, but at this point I was so ready to buy the next clunker that was parked on the side of road with any ole for sale sign slapped on the front.
But the Lord knows us, knows our desires and has all things planned for good! Praise Jesus.
So we get to the bank, get all the necessary paperwork/supplies and are on our way when 30 minutes into our drive Pete's car begins to make a strange squeeking noise and we smell smoke. Now to be completely honest, the first thought that crossed my mind was, "Really Lord? You have been here the whole time, in this whole decision. I have waited for two months - " and then I stopped. Why am I complaining? The Lord is STILL in this. This is a test. And I had already begin to fail, but thank the Lord for His grace and mercy. I instantly remembered the study in church the past week, about the Lord testing Moses as he came down from the mountain and the people were worshipping the golden calf. The Lord tested Moses' love for his people and Moses passed with flying colors. At that moment the Lord quietly reminded me that He was with us and that we just needed to trust in Him. I prayed Lord, I trust you with this. I give it all to you, please just protect us.
No sooner had we pulled off the side of the road then a 'Road Ranger' pulled up behind us. We were already on the phone with our trusty mechanic in which we were making strange impressions of the noises we were hearing and the site we were seeing. All this to say, we were prepared to "cut a belt" in order for the smoking and squeeking to stop when at the very last minute the road ranger/guardian angel told us to stop because he thought that the belt was connected to the alternator, not the A/C compressor. Little did we know it was connected to both, and had we cut the belt we would have been in a world of hurt, not to mention paying out the wazoo to have the car towed, the belt replaced and still without a car. Because we didn't cut the belt and because the Lord was in it, all we had to do was turn off the A/C and drive away. PRAISE GOD! (By the way, we will be getting that fixed this week)
Long story short, we made it to our destination, saw the car, test drove it around the block and happened up a street entitle "Randall Circle," (the Lord certainly is blatant sometimes huh?) returned to the owner's home, made an offer (in which he accepted the very lowest) and drove away with the sweet little ride. We took pictures before even pulling away (a good sign from Pete, who was obviously just as thrilled as I was), and sent them off to various prayer warriors who have been praying for the months we were without that second set of wheels - a cute little green Honda Element (my fantasy car since 2003 when they were geniusly introduced). Thank you all so much! Praising Jesus for his faithfulness and the intimacy of my relationship with Him today!
Happy Trails,
Kendra
