July 22, 2012

• Our van story

  Have you ever seen the hand of God in something that may seem trivial to others, but means so much to you that it almost makes you cry?  I would like to share something that makes me feel so small but yet so loved by our Heavenly Father. 

  As I walked out of the door of our church that balmy Sunday last Fall,  I looked over at our Ford 15-passenger van in the parking lot and something akin to fondness enveloped me.    Our van had served us faithfully for almost 7 years and still had plenty of mileage left on it.   Besides I was very partial to that shade of gunmetal blue. 
  I also took note that the paint was peeling from the roof where a recent trip through the car wash had really done a number on it.  The thought crossed my mind that perhaps we could get it repainted while were were in Guatemala since we were planning to drive down there soon anyway.  We know of place there where they did an excellent job on some other of our vehicles and weren't too expensive.
  Little did I know that before the day was over, our van wouldn't be needing a new paint job.  Neither would it serve us any longer.  Several hours later it was laying on it's right side after rolling 2 times  and now it is parked outside our house looking very forlorn indeed.

  

  Although, I have peace about what happened that afternoon and I am extremely grateful for God's protection through it all, every time we come home from somewhere,  I see that  wrecked van parked there, I feel a wave of nostalgia and sadness wash over me.  The children tease me that I say the same thing; "That poor van!"   

   

  Vernon had threatened to take it to the junk dealer but I didn't want him to, as I was sure there were parts that are perfectly usable that someone might need....someday.  (I remember having to fork out $800 for one of those long side window when one of our children broke one in Guatemala.)  I  tried listing it or pieces of it for sale online but the listing never really came together so was never posted. 
  In the meantime, we bought another van from a friend that was selling his for a cheap price.  It is a 12 passenger, white and very rusty but we knew we needed it until something better came up.  We kept looking on Ebay for a replacement but unfortunately they are all out of our price range.  Also, none of them really appealed to me.  They just weren't the "right" color.  Finally, we sort of dropped it, figuring we would deal with the problem later when we had to.

  Then, in February, while using the Internet,  I decided to check Craigslist NW Wisconsin.  I typed in Ford Van and lo and behold, there was a E350 maxi van  almost identical to the one we rolled.  No rust, since it had recently been brought up from Colorado.  Only difference was its a V8 instead of V10 and has a CD player instead of cassette.  WOW!

  Quite frankly, I really wanted that van.  The price was a bit more than we felt that we could pay but it sure beat the 6 to 10 thousand dollars most of them were going for on Ebay.

  Of course, I wasn't sure if we really NEEDED it or not, since we did have this white one, but Vernon was also excited about it and gave me the go-ahead to contact the seller.  Over the next week, I kept praying about it, asking God to show us clearly if we should buy it or not.  I didn't want to get it without His complete blessing as I felt that part of my wanting it was for sentimental reasons.

  The seller, Scott, told me that he had used it for a cargo van and didn't sell it to a Day Care center that had been interested because he thought it was not good enough to haul children.  I told him our story and that Vernon was a mechanic and knew how to fix vehicles.  We also discovered that the pieces of the interior that needed fixed or replaced was from the left side.  The side of our rolled van that wasn't bashed in!

  We drove a couple of hours up to Lake Superior to look at it and decided to offer what we felt we could afford.  It has high mileage, plus the windshield needed replaced, besides a few other things like the heater and air conditioner wasn't working.  Scott was asking a good bit more than we offered, and he declined our offer.    He said he didn't think he wanted to let it go for that but said he would contact us if it didn't sell.  We told him that was fine and that we felt he no doubt could get more for it from someone else.  Still, as we drove away, I felt a little sad that it hadn't worked out but I was at peace that we hadn't forced an issue where God was saying "No."  Besides, there was the possibility that Scott would contact us later. 

  We left and had started back down the highway  when Vernon suddenly thought he should turn around and go back into town to fuel up.  While we were at the gas station, Scott drove in.  Since he lived only a couple of blocks from there, I thought perhaps he was going into the convenience store to buy something and didn't think too much about it.  Vernon was inside the store paying for the gas but when got back into the van he asked me if Scott had talked to me. 
  I said "No, he hadn't." 
  Then Vernon told me that Scott had come looking for us.

  He said that when we left that he immediately felt he should have sold it to us.  He and his wife talked about it and decided that they wanted us to have it, so he decided that if we were still in town and if he could find us, that he would sell it for what we had offered.   That is IF we were still interested.  IF????!!!!

  I could've cried right then and there!  Now, I do not have to worry whether we did the right thing or not. 
  When I asked Scott how he found us, he said that he thought he'd look at the gas station because we may have decided to get gas, but if we had gone down the highway he knew he'd never catch up with us.    Who but God could've nudged Vernon to turn around and go back when he did?  If we had fueled up first before we left town, Scott would have missed us so God's timing was perfect.
  

  Now we have another van that looks right at home in our parking lot!  And on the other side of the house we have most or all of the parts and pieces we'll need to fix it up.

    Little did we know that we would be the ones that needed the parts.   Here Vernon is "Robbing Peter to pay Paul."   

   

   

   Isn't God good?  

  HE even knew it was the right color! 
  

    So this helps it seem as if
  

   

  this hadn't happened:
  

   

   

   

   

  • 4:14 pm
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