I am sorry we have been away so long. It has been a very busy summer, but something happened to my family and me that we needed to share with you. We have never seen the love and faithfulness of God in such a powerful way.
At the end of September, my car was due to go through inspection, an inspection that it was sure to fail. The 15 year old, 215,000 mile car had reached it's end. Financially, our family was not in a position to purchase a new vehicle on our own. So we started to pray.
On Monday night, my wife Jen and I were out for supper with our ministry team when I got a call on my cell phone. Michael, a salesman at Carsense in Hatfield, asked me if I needed a car, and informed me that we were approved for a car. I didn't understand what he was saying. I thought it was a sales call, and I was frankly put off by this aggressive tactic during my supper hour on my private cell phone. (How did he get my cell phone?)
It took me a while, but I finally started to understand what he was saying. Some unnamed person had approached him with a check in our name that would allow our family to purchase a "slightly used" vehicle. After finally making sense of the whole thing, we agreed to meet Michael on Tuesday evening to pick out a vehicle.
Here it is! A 2005 Chrysler Town and Country.
The vehicle is loaded! Power everything, stow and go seating (no more throwing out the back when we need to take the seats out), and only 40,000 miles. And the best feature of all...
...an onboard DVD/Gaming system. (Manny's blank stare brought to you by the DVD player and an episode of Timmy Turner)God answered our prayer! He used someone from His church to bless us beyond what we every could have expected. To my wife, this gift was God's way of saying to her, "I hear you, I know what you are going through, and I love you." To me, this gift was God's way of saying, "My love isn't based on how you think you are doing, it is about what I am doing. I will show my love when I want and how I want and for my purposes." We both were so humbled, and grateful for the love of our God.
This doesn't mean that God is going to answer every one of our prayers in that dramatic a fashion. In fact, often the opposite is true. How often do we sit and wait for God to answer prayer, thinking he is far off, thinking he has forgotten us? Be encouraged! Though the answers may not come, God is there, and his love for you and I is never far away. Our ability to see it isn't always the keenest. Sometimes, God's love is best shown when he has us wait. I pray that God gives you and I the ability to be patient and trust his love when it feels far off, but also enjoy his love when it comes close.
To the Saint who blessed us: your gift was given anonymously, so the only name that is ever attached to your gift is God's. You have blessed us, but every time this story gets told, you give glory to God. May God bless you richly, as you have blessed us and Him. To you we say thank you. You will always be in our thoughts and prayers!
