Another Ebenezer Story

"Samuel . . . named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the Lord helped us." (1 Sam. 7:12)

Let us pick up our van story where we left off. . .

Our '99 Ford Windstar started shaking and lurching as we pulled off the interstate to find a hotel for the night. We were about four hours from Orlando, on our way back to Lynchburg (which was still over seven hours away). The transmission failed and yet Braden was able to navigate the van to the back parking lot of a nearby hotel- which also had a room available for us that night. Providence.

The next day we had the van towed to a recommended repair shop and Braden picked up a rental Astro van. Word from the shop was that our transmission needed to be replaced ($2000-$2500 for them to do this with a refurbished transmission from Savannah, GA). Not only that, but it wouldn't be completed until the day before Christmas- or later if they ran into problems.

B and I decided that we couldn't afford to stay at a hotel in Brunswick for the week (nor did we especially want to!). We were able to drive the rental van back to Orlando, where we could stay with friends free of charge while we figured out what to do. At this point B was thinking we ought not have our van repaired, but should look for something else. Even though we didn't have money for the van repair, it didn't make sense to spend over $2000 on a van that would never be worth that much.

We had left Orlando on Wednesday afternoon and we were back again on Thursday evening. This time we were asking God to show us what to do. My heart was yearning to be home and so we agreed that we would spend the weekend looking around and exploring possibilities, but that if we didn't have anything by Monday we would get a one-way rental to drive back to Lynchburg and then hope to get something in VA.

For years the kids and I have been praying for a van. I knew our Windstar wouldn't last forever, that we would need something bigger, and also that we probably wouldn't be able to afford a replacement van. We have asked God to GIVE us a van when we needed one. While I was resting on this confidence, I was also wondering if NOW was the time and if giving us a van was what God desired to do, to give Himself the MOST glory.

We spent the weekend driving around, looking at things, praying, wondering, talking to our parents and friends for counsel, and waiting. My parents had very generously offered to help us purchase something, so we kept looking. We were watching for vans online and were drawn to the Honda Odysseys- but knew that they were beyond our means.

Monday came and we hadn't purchased a van (for many reasons). I had the rental van loaded to go and was waiting for B to give the word, but there were NO one-way rentals to be had in either GA or FL. (Providence). We couldn't leave FL! Clearly, God was keeping us for a reason. . . so we went back online to see if we had missed anything. At this time I had a voicemail on my cell phone from a wonderful family from our church in VA. They felt led to give us a $1500 gift to help us get home. We were floored. Providence.

One hour later, we quickly bid goodbye to our dear, gracious friends who had hosted our family, and made haste to St. Petersburg, FL. B had found a 2004 Honda for sale there and the seller had come down in his price via phone and then lowered his price again if B could come that day and purchase the van THAT day. The van looked great online, but we needed to drive it and see it in person. For the duration of the two hour drive we were on the phone, trying to work out a wire transfer. Try as we might, our bank was completely unavailable by phone. (Providence; we found out later that their phones were down that day.)

During this intense time I also spoke with a very dear friend who had been faithfully praying for our family through it all. She had also asked other brothers and sisters to pray and had just finished praying with one of these sweet sisters. They beseeched God to take care of our need, and even asked, "God, don't just meet their need, but knock their socks off- put them in a Honda Odyssey!" I told my friend P about our $1500 gift that morning, and she prophetically declared, "That is just the FIRST in a line of people that God is going to use in this story." She was right. (She was also right that we shouldn't buy a Kia!)

We arrived in St. Pete without having the wire completed. My dad was waiting at his bank in IL, but we didn't have all of the specific information needed. We met Alex, who told us that it was nice to meet us but that he couldn't sell us the van that day because his bank was now closed. After our hurrying and praying and phone calls and four hour round trip. . . we were too late! (We did not feel able to return the next day; we were still holding out hope that we would be headed home then.)

Nonetheless, B drove the van. The other vans we had seen and been interested in and he had driven. . . did not drive well. This one was a dream. Clearly superior and oh, so nice. B inspected everything with Alex and was impressed. I had been waiting with the kids in the parking lot at Alex's apartment. . . but we all needed a restroom desperately. I asked Alex if there was a facility we could use. He graciously invited us up to his apartment.

In the apartment I was able to take care of the children and meet Alex's lovely wife, her sister, and her nieces. As B and Alex negotiated options (A drive to Orlando the next day, we wait to leave, etc.), I had the opportunity to visit with the ladies while the children played. They are all Romanian and had such interesting stories and perspectives. It was a wonderful way (for me!) to spend an hour. B, meanwhile, was trying to prove to Alex that we would be good for the money tomorrow.

At one point I needed to take Tate to the van to change his diaper. My cell phone rang, but I couldn't answer it. A few minutes later it rang again and I saw that it was my cousin calling (again). Because this was unusual, I answered the phone. Tate and I walked back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the apartments while I spoke with my cousin. He said that he hadn't wanted to ask before about our financial situation (because it seemed too personal), but his wife and told him about our situation. He was compelled (Providence!) to call and offer us a monetary Christmas gift. His parents had made a special request for their Christmas gift this year. Instead of something for them, they had asked their children to give money to charity. My wonderful cousin said he figured that it wasn't much good to help strangers if you weren't willing to help your own family. He and his wife were sending us a generous check.

B then called me (via cell phone!) up to the apartment. Alex had decided to sell the van to us and let us leave with it that night! "I am just praying that the money shows up in my account tomorrow," he said. There were papers to sign, car seats to move, handshakes, and then we were ready to drive away. B explained to me later that there had been a flurry of Romanian between Alex and his wife. At one point he heard her say, essentially, "It's okay." The Lord allowed her to see my heart and gave her peace to trust that we really would pay for the van. Alex gave us an amazing deal- so great that it was hard to believe. He buys and sells autos from his apartment and it just so happened that he had purchased this van over a month ago from an auto auction. It was the most expensive auto he had ever purchased. In the past month he hadn't had anyone interested in it and now he was nearly desperate to get his money back out of the van to use for his other investments. He sold us the van and made less than $300.

(A side note regarding Honda Odysseys: our "research" informed us that 2001-2003 vans were more prone to repairs. This van is a 2004. Most of the vans we saw had dvd players, which we didn't want. This one doesn't. The Kia that had seemed the best van we had found (except for it's low gas mileage and poor recommendations) was appealing because it had leather interior (great with kids!), and even heated seats (oh, so luxurious!). This van has leather, heated seats. It seems incongruous that our family should have something so nice.)

And so we drove back to Orlando. We were given a very nice place to stay by generous friends who were out of town for Christmas. The next day we left for VA. (It promised to be a long trip when we had to stop four times before we were officially beyond Orlando's city limits!)

We stopped in Brunswick for lunch and to clean out our old Ford. Good thing, too. We saw that the situation was sketchy there- they had even LOST the key to our van! B was SO glad we hadn't given them any money or trusted them to fix anything we would need to depend on.

Our SO nice, new-to-us Honda Odyssey pulled into our drive at 1 a.m. on Christmas eve, with our children sleeping (except Tate!) peacefully. My heart was filled to swelling with gratefulness that we were home safely, richly blessed beyond our imagining. Alex received his money and did send us the other key and the title- so it is official.

True to P's prediction, there were many other saints involved in this story. When we opened our mail we had checks from Nora Mitter and friends and family, helping us offset the cost of the van and to meet our needs. Our neighbors brought over armfuls of packages that had arrived on our steps while we were away. All of the boxes went under the tree (sans wrapping!). I used a gift card (again) to purchase groceries, and we joyfully celebrated Christmas. Saints brought us a ham for dinner. Friends who are moving gave me huge baskets full of household supplies (this was SO exciting!).

Oh, what a Savior we have! We raise our Ebenezer this Christmas to our Providential Lord, who exceeded our needs and lavished His love on us, poor as we are.