Slug-a-bug

Have you ever said one of those prayers that just sounds crazy? Well, it turns out that God likes to be a little crazy sometimes too. And I know it shouldn't surprise me when He does amazing, miraculous things - but somehow it always does. Here's the story...

Our reliable little red car was breaking down. It had been a good car to us - and seen us through a lot of miles. I used to commute from Modesto to Stockton in the little red car. When we moved to the bay area, it was our only car for over three years. To be truthful, the little red car survived a lot longer than it should have. But it was dying a very long, slow, painful death.

Last week, the poor little red car was at death's door. The oil change guys spotted a big oil leak. Then the mechanics spotted an even bigger issue - something to do with a gasket, which sounds like a small thing, but in actuality is very significant. Our choices - pay $1300 to prolong the little red car's life, or skip the repair and drive until its little engine fell apart. Not having an extra $1300 laying around, it was not a hard choice.

So we started looking at used cars online, talking about loans, and manipulating the budget. In the end, we just felt discouraged and didn't know what to do. That's when the crazy prayer came in. "God - you know what would be really awesome? If someone gave us a car. THAT would be awesome." And you know what... someone did!

A couple of days later, Rob's dad called to say that he had just purchased a new car and instead of trading in their current car, they had kept the car to give to us. A bright, shiny red Volkswagen Beetle! (Only my most favorite car in the whole world!)

It's four years old and has only 25,000 miles on it. It's the nicest, newest car we've ever had. I mean, a car from the current decade? What a luxury! Air-conditioning that works? Amazing! Seat warmers? Are you kidding me?

We are, of course, really really really grateful to Rob's parents. Their generosity is so kind. But even more, how awesome is God? He did more than just met our need - He blessed us over and above what we could have imagined. He really is amazing.