Saying good bye

Hannah was only a few weeks old when we found and bought our van.

Over the course of the previous 6 years, we had made more than our share of bad financial decisions and were finding ourselves unexpectedly facing bankruptcy. And so came the new era...

We were making efforts to be good stewards of the material things we were blessed with, and we were trusting the Lord to help our hearts change to truly be able to be good stewards. Our first good decision was to pay cash for a vehicle.

Great idea... only, we didn't have that much cash. What kind of car could we get with less than $3000 cash?!

At that time, you could still buy cars on eBay. We found a 96 Ford Wintsar that was being sold in Oregon and had about 145,000 miles on it. We won the auction, sight unseen, and started to pray.

God, we are trusting you, and asking that as you teach us to be wise with your blessings, that you will bless this car too.

There were some small quirks: a driver's window that doesn't go down; wipers that work better when the turn signal is on, door sensors that think doors are open when they aren't. But really, over all, this car was so clearly blessed. It got us from point A to point B and point C through Z well and comfortably with so little hassle. I often found myself amazed at the blessedness of this car.

But I do know this, that God has blessed us, not the car. God might use our material things to show his love and grace to us, but really, we are the ones that are blessed.

Today, we said good bye to our van.

I loved this car. So many places it took us, so many memories!

It has been on borrowed time for a while. The last trip the mechanic for an oil change confirmed that we were due for a severe repair bill any day now, but likely wouldn't be worth doing.

Upon handing the keys over to dealer, it was obvious that the blessing was on us, and not on the car. The car immediately went from running perfectly to struggling and a Check Engine light. As a result, the return on the car was not as great, but my faith is stirred. Now I know, God used this car to bless us and teach us how to trust in him more.