Praise God!
Dec. 24th, 2007 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imbecamielGod. Is. Amazing.
Okay, so you all know that we've been car shopping. Well, it's been a rather miserable experience, turning into something of a re-run of furniture shopping, only with more pressure and more being outside in the cold. Our other van was an older one, so although we got a good payment for its value from insurance, and have a good amount in savings, because we want to pay cash and don't want to go into debt our options are a little bit limited.
So, we decided we wanted to go with a newer used car, and started out looking. Problem is, they switched from regular seats to stow-and-go in most vans just shortly after we bought our last one. So the new vans are really nice, and lots of them have very cool features, but... in most, that kind of seat means being tilted way back so you're sitting nearly on the floor, with your knees up in the air. Not comfortable. Especially if you regularly go on several-thousand-mile car trips like our family likes to. The only way to not get them would be to get an older used van (almost as old as our other one, which would most likely mean being in a position of needing to get another one within a few years) or to special-order a new one.
So, I have been getting very discouraged, and we have been spending a lot of time looking at vans. And believe me, through none of this have we been picky about what extras are or aren't included - when you're buying used, you get what's in the car. Some might be nice, or cool, but very few things make-or-break the choice. Then Saturday we decided to take a look at another kind of van. And we really like them. And they don't all have that kind of seat. And the ones that do are actually comfortable. And they have lots of neat features. And they're supposed to be very well-made. And they even look rather cool. *g*
But, a couple of problems. The prices, naturally, tend to range higher, and there are very, very few used ones around anywhere in the area.
We were looking at what they did have at the dealer, when, miracle of miracles, we found one that everyone liked. So we took it for a test drive, and everyone liked it even more. And it was actually within the price range we wanted. And it was very cool. And actually had a couple neat little bonus features that I hadn't even thought might be nice, because I didn't even know they existed. And by the time we got back we'd finally decided that this was the one we wanted. So we went inside, talked to the man we were working with, and... found out that while we were test driving it someone had come in and bought it.
Extremely disappointed, we left and spent the rest of the day going around to other car lots, and finding nothing else we really liked. Later in the day, mom called the dealer on the off chance that the purchase on the car we liked might not have gone through, but no, everything looked like it was set. So we've been talking in circles, trying to figure out what we should do.
And then this morning we got a call from the dealer. For some odd reason the purchase had just fallen through after all - are we still interested, and would we like him to put a hold on the van for us?
LOL, my first thought was, how could I be such an idiot? I mean, I've been praying like crazy that God would show us what to do, and constantly reminding myself that He knows what he's doing, and if we couldn't get that van, obviously it wasn't His plan for us, and that His plan was the best possible one, and determining to have a good attitude and persevere. But even so... how could I have had so little faith in Him? No matter how often He proves Himself, I'm so prone to doubting. Thank You, God, for never giving up on me, even when I'm so often tempted to give up on trusting You.
Needless to say, Mom, Dad, and Eric are currently driving into town to buy our new van, while Nef and I are getting Christmas Eve dinner ready. Please be praying for us - Sue, Lance, Ashley, and Dylan are coming over tonight, and we're praying that God will work on their hearts to make them open to His truth, and that He'll provide opportunities for us to share it with them. And I know that He will act, even if it seems to be taking a while. :)
Merry Christmas all!
So, we decided we wanted to go with a newer used car, and started out looking. Problem is, they switched from regular seats to stow-and-go in most vans just shortly after we bought our last one. So the new vans are really nice, and lots of them have very cool features, but... in most, that kind of seat means being tilted way back so you're sitting nearly on the floor, with your knees up in the air. Not comfortable. Especially if you regularly go on several-thousand-mile car trips like our family likes to. The only way to not get them would be to get an older used van (almost as old as our other one, which would most likely mean being in a position of needing to get another one within a few years) or to special-order a new one.
So, I have been getting very discouraged, and we have been spending a lot of time looking at vans. And believe me, through none of this have we been picky about what extras are or aren't included - when you're buying used, you get what's in the car. Some might be nice, or cool, but very few things make-or-break the choice. Then Saturday we decided to take a look at another kind of van. And we really like them. And they don't all have that kind of seat. And the ones that do are actually comfortable. And they have lots of neat features. And they're supposed to be very well-made. And they even look rather cool. *g*
But, a couple of problems. The prices, naturally, tend to range higher, and there are very, very few used ones around anywhere in the area.
We were looking at what they did have at the dealer, when, miracle of miracles, we found one that everyone liked. So we took it for a test drive, and everyone liked it even more. And it was actually within the price range we wanted. And it was very cool. And actually had a couple neat little bonus features that I hadn't even thought might be nice, because I didn't even know they existed. And by the time we got back we'd finally decided that this was the one we wanted. So we went inside, talked to the man we were working with, and... found out that while we were test driving it someone had come in and bought it.
Extremely disappointed, we left and spent the rest of the day going around to other car lots, and finding nothing else we really liked. Later in the day, mom called the dealer on the off chance that the purchase on the car we liked might not have gone through, but no, everything looked like it was set. So we've been talking in circles, trying to figure out what we should do.
And then this morning we got a call from the dealer. For some odd reason the purchase had just fallen through after all - are we still interested, and would we like him to put a hold on the van for us?
LOL, my first thought was, how could I be such an idiot? I mean, I've been praying like crazy that God would show us what to do, and constantly reminding myself that He knows what he's doing, and if we couldn't get that van, obviously it wasn't His plan for us, and that His plan was the best possible one, and determining to have a good attitude and persevere. But even so... how could I have had so little faith in Him? No matter how often He proves Himself, I'm so prone to doubting. Thank You, God, for never giving up on me, even when I'm so often tempted to give up on trusting You.
Needless to say, Mom, Dad, and Eric are currently driving into town to buy our new van, while Nef and I are getting Christmas Eve dinner ready. Please be praying for us - Sue, Lance, Ashley, and Dylan are coming over tonight, and we're praying that God will work on their hearts to make them open to His truth, and that He'll provide opportunities for us to share it with them. And I know that He will act, even if it seems to be taking a while. :)
Merry Christmas all!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 06:11 pm (UTC)And you definitely have my prayers!
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 09:03 pm (UTC)And I'll definitely be praying for you all tonight, that there will be opportunities to witness. Have a wonderful Christmas, you and your family, gwathel-nin! *hugs*