A Story of God's Provision

It will probably come at no surprise that Drew and I were contemplating our next move on what to do as far as transportation goes for our growing family. Drew was pretty sure that we could swing packing two kids in our 4 door Honda Civic, but I was less than enthusiastic about the idea of having to shove baby crap in every nook and cranny of our car just to go on an outing to the park. And if you've ever seen a double stroller, then you'll understand what I am saying when I say that I wasn't sure the trunk would close if we had to put one of those in the back. While I was working (before we had kids) we saved a good little nest egg for our next car, since we don't believe in financing anything (other than our house). The problem was, purchasing a decent used van was going to basically deplete our entire savings account, and trying to build that back up to a decent level so we'd have something stashed away for an eventual truck replacement for Drew would be really hard (at least right now, since money is so tight). It left us in a bit of a pickle, and honestly, a bit of a disagreement. I was the one who would be stuck with most of the driving around in the small sedan, so it made sense that I was the one pushing more for the bigger vehicle. However, Drew was reserved so we really were left with not being able to make a decision.

I've always wanted Drew's next vehicle to be something a bit more family friendly; right now he can't put a child in his Ranger because it has a side airbag, and with no way to turn it off, it leaves the truck unsafe for a young child to ride in it. Drew's always had a truck, and we like trucks/cars with good gas mileage, so the thought of getting him an SUV eventually wasn't really gelling with either of us. So, we kind of sat in a standstill on our future plans for cars, but obviously with baby #2 cooking away, it was still heavy on both of our minds.

I'm not going to lie about this picture; we were both kind of being stubborn headed about our opinions on both sides of the issue, and we had had plenty of disagreements about it. It almost always ended up in a heated discussion where someone would get their feelings hurt and it would blow up. Wednesday night was probably the first night we were able to talk about the entire situation and share both of our hearts without getting in a heated discussion about it, and what's even neater is that we finally prayed about it together and just asked God to show us what to do and placed that provision in His hands.

That's when it happened. Friday morning I was kind of thinking about everything again, and I had an idea. I wasn't sure how it would go over with Drew, but I figured I'd at least share it, and at worst he'd say no.  On the way to the pool, I said, "Hey, um, I've got this idea. And you may think it's stupid, but I figured I'd just throw it out there." I got an "OK shoot," so I breathed deeply and then proceeded with my idea. "Well, I was thinking. We don't really NEED a vehicle as big as a van right now. But obviously you know my opinion on the size of the Civic. What is we purchased a mid-sized SUV, used it for the next 3 or so years, and THEN bought a van, and you could use the SUV as your car." Probably about 2 seconds of silence, and then.....
"BABE. You're brilliant (I know, what every woman wants to hear, right?!)! Why didn't you think of this sooner? That's a GREAT idea!" We had finally found our middle ground. Then, I told Drew how I had seen an older (2001) model CRV on craigslist with really low mileage. He thought it sounded like a great deal and called the owner. He went over Friday evening with my uncle and checked it out, and came home with a great peace about it all. Saturday we went back so I could see it and test drive it. The car is in PRISTINE condition. I mean, the interior looks as new as a brand new car looks. The best part is that it only has 58K miles on it! We put an offer in on Saturday night, and they accepted. Turns out, the couple attends our church, so we met after church to close the deal and bring the new (to us) car home. We got an AMAZING deal on it, and the mileage is so low that by the time it's "Drew's car" it will still have a good deal of life left on the engine. It gives me more room than the Civic so I am comfortable, but keeps our gas mileage at a decent rate so we're not breaking the bank on gas. I can boil this down to only one thing: we asked God to show us, and He totally just dropped it in our lap. What's even greater is that we found an option that Drew and I are both happy with and that suits our family both financially and comfort wise. God is so good. Drew and I are just so amazed that every time we sweep away our differences and just go to God and lay it at His feet, He time and time again shows us that He will provide for us even in the little things. We got home too late for me to take a decent picture of the car, so I'll just give you the pic that was on craigslist. Now if only I can find an appropriate name for our newest baby :)