New Car

Today, two of my prayers were answered from my prayer list.  I am so very blessed and thankful for God's graciousness and for putting people in our lives that love and care for us.  For the longest time, when my husband and I had pretty good salaries, we gave as much as we could to help those we loved and cared for.  Now that the tables are turned, and we are financially strapped, it is nice to see God work through the people we love to take care of us.

Two needs became very clear to us this year.  The first is that our family car was all of a sudden not big enough to fit our family.  The car seats take so much space and when our second daughter was born, the limited space became very obvious.  The front passenger seat could no longer be pushed all the way back and much less recline it.  Anyone sitting in that seat would have to be a small person like me or be in a very cramped position.  We would have stuck with the car as long as we could, but I put it on my prayer list as a "want."

The second problem that arose a few weeks ago is that my husband's car started failing.  When we had a diagnosis done, the combined repairs would have totaled at least $7000.  At that point it was almost better to just trade it in and buy a newer vehicle.  This really became a need because the car could stop working at any minute.  Since my husband commutes an hour each way for work, we needed a replacement quick.

We looked at our finances and came up with a budget and a price limit of what we could afford.  Based on our budget a bigger family car was out of reach because SUV's/vans are more expensive than a sedan.  We therefore started looking for an affordable sedan for my husband but one that could handle the winter conditions in the part of the country were we live.

As we started to shop around, we became very disheartened to see that what we wanted was out of reach.  Even the smaller sedan was starting to look impossible.  It looked like we would have to settle for something that did not quite have the capabilities and reliability we were looking for.  Then close family members came to visit and I asked one of them if they could help my husband negotiate a good deal on my husband's top choice of vehicle.  This person had the reputation of being a good negotiator and I was praying that just maybe we can get an amazing deal that fit our budget for my hubby's replacement car.

The results were even better.  This family member ended up covering the difference on the SUV we wanted and what we could afford.  As of yesterday, this person made it possible for us to get the bigger family car at a great deal.  My husband would then inherit our other family car which is a safe, reliable car and excellent in winter conditions for his long commute.  The family would get a car that was also safe, reliable, and perfect for the winter, but that would give us more room to fit all of us and all our baby gear.

Once again, I am thankful that God has met our needs and wants.  In this instance he worked through a loved one to help us out.  I only pray that we may be able to help others also.