What's God doing???

Hmmm - Two days after we bought a replacement, we got a call from the Everett Police Department, telling us to come pick up the van within 30 minutes or it would be impounded - with BIG fees. It was found behind Denny's on Evergreen Way. Cop had it started without a key. Great! They ripped out the CD player - but it didn't work anyway! A bit of righteous justice?? Or just me giving in to a bit of unrighteous "HA!!" Guess we'll sell it - the replacement has 20K fewer miles on it - and the way I drive, that could be 2 years-worth of driving.

WHEEEEELS!!!!

Okay. Sorry, Aaron. I forgot to title the post, and absolutely cannot figure out how to go back and do it. So consider this the title: WHEEEEELS!!!

Well, here she is. Fifty-four feet and two tons of beauty, grace, and soooo smooooooth! Well, I exaggerate a bit – about the length and weight, but it kinda feels like that when I’m in it! But the smooooooth part is not exaggerated one bit. O my goodness. I don’t know if I’ve ever ridden in a car that has that smooth of a ride. They are doing major tear-up work on 41st east of Colby to tie in to all the freeway work they’ve been doing. We drove over a section where they’ve stripped the top layer of blacktop off. You know how rough that can be? Well, maybe you don’t. Our van didn’t really have any shocks (or struts) to speak of. I was used to a pretty rough ride. And if I remember correctly, the minivan is built on a truck chassis anyway. But this car – I can’t believe I’m driving such a luxurious car. NOW, it is old. It has a lot of miles on it (147k). And with that in mind, there are a few things… But I gotta tell you, when I depress the accelerator, it GOES!!! And when I get in, and turn the key, the seat goes back to where I left it. Why does it have to do that? Because when I turn it off, it moves back to give me room to get out. J How fun! I am so thankful. Got this from “our” mechanic – goes to our church, owns his own shop, and he’s honest. And we told him we needed a car that would give us 3 years, at least, of good, reliable service. This is what he had. Plan to have it paid off in about 15 months, Lord willing, and then continue to put the payment into the bank to hopefully build up a nice down payment on something that will be more in line with what I would like eventually. At this point, that looks like a dark blue Jeep Liberty. Cute, huh? That’s all for now. We are thankful for what we have, and if you come visit, would love to give you a ride in our piece of unexpected luxury!

Well, it's been a D-A-Y

Got up, a little PT for the knees, shower, shampoo, came down to eat breakfast and look at the paper. Went back upstairs about 8:15 to curl my hair and get ready for work. Next thing I hear is Gabe "Hey mom, where's your car???" I ran back downstairs, and he was right. Just a whole lot of empty space where the car should have been. I'll be brief:

• The police officer said most likely someone wanted to take a joy ride - ostensibly to drive a drug dealer from Point A to Point B
• He also said if I see my car, DO NOT get in and drive it away - if an officer sees it and runs plates, I'll have a whole lot of guns pointed at me! Okay. No problem there!
• They usually recover them, and they are okay.
• The insurance company took my info and said call them if it's recovered. Give it a week or so. That's fine. Dad will be home in a week or so!

At work I was getting a glass of ice water. Got the ice, moved the glass to the water spigot, and again pressed the ice lever. Oops! I really didn't want to complain at work, but out of my mouth came "Boy, you wake up to having your car stolen and the day just goes downhill!" One of our residents was standing there. He said "You need a car? I'm selling my Ford minivan - new [rebuilt, I imagine] engine, tranny, tires, brakes, and [I think,] shocks. Inside and out, looks brand new, I wouldn't be ashamed to sell it to anyone." For a reasonable price, although more than I have, but also in better shape than mine was. He said he wouldn't be afraid to take it anywhere. And it's older, so the insurance would be lower than on a newer car.

So we have some decisions to make. We covet your prayers on our behalf, that we would be wise, and that we would get what we need from our car, assuming we don't get it back.

I sent Ric an email after things settled down a bit, and I'll share some of it here:

Here are some things to be thankful for that I've thought of:

• We could have been facing a big repair bill shortly that we were unaware of. This could be a blessing, with God's financial protection that we can't see.
• There was no accident.
• No injuries.
• No garage door opener which would make us a target for physical danger.
• Nothing of real value in the car (Except 7 new grocery bags that I just bought, and had used maybe twice! ):
• Any myriad of a number of other things that haven't come to my mind yet.

As I was praying in the car (oops! "truck"), the scripture came to my mind: "Be still, and know that I am God." I thought that was good advice! I've had a fair grip on my emotions today, for which I am thankful.

I plan to get a good night's sleep and face the world again tomorrow. Sometime. (And yes, honey, the security feature is set on the pickup!)

Separation...

Well, this, thankfully, will not be a permanent separation! Dad is at the airport, heading for MT for 2 weeks while Josh does a missions opportunity thing. Dad's role will be to help and support Holly, especially with Su. He'll also be teaching a special "elective" (dad's elective, actually) for 45 minutes each school day. He's NERVOUS! ;) This trip also is seeming to serve as a distraction for the Bookends regarding daddy being gone for 2 weeks. Please join us in praying that all goes well - for Josh, for those in Hardin, and for me here at home (read: my very old car works, furnace works, toilets work, etc. ad nauseum)