Monday, September 8, 2008

That was a week

Have you ever had the experience that things were happening so fast that it was like you were sitting back watching a movie of your life? Absolutely no control over what was happening, yet a sense that it was all good and God was definitely the one in control.
It started with the sale of my car last Wednesday. That was an answer to prayer, especially in this economy and totally unexpected. I had all but given up on selling it. The guy was a very nice fellow, an artist, who writes an article in the Hamilton Magazine. Very interesting person and a new connection I was happy to make. A God moment? I think so. Then tragedy strikes! The free car I was to receive from my in-laws suddenly became unavailable due to the fact it was uncertifiable. Had a hole in the frame. Not repairable. I could have been killed driving down the QEW as it split in two and broke apart at 100km's per hour. I drove this car for a whole month back and forth to Toronto. My plans have been derailed! YIKES! I have no car to get to work next Tuesday and only about 4 days to find one! I might as well have not sold mine, right? Nope, God knows more than I do. Ruth and I had discussed the possibility of getting a van. Lot's of room for carrying people and stuff and since commuting will no longer be an issue, neither will gas consumption. I found one on Kijiji that we liked in my price range. Actually made an appointment to go see it, but that's when I was offered the "free" car. I cancelled the appointment. Four days later, I have no free car. When I learned I wasn't getting a free car, I was about to leave for work and rather panicked that I needed to get one soon. Absolutely no time to look for one myself. I don't know if you have bought and sold cars yourself recently, but it is not as easy as it looks. Their is a few things that have to be in place like certification, e-testing, sales kits, lineups at ministry offices, etc. Time consuming and potentially expensive. What if you buy a lemon? It's buyer beware you know! I called the guy with the van hoping it was still available. I had a good feeling about him. Turns out he is a retired pastor that is involved in a street ministry here in Hamilton. A God moment? I think so. I trusted him and his vehicle. It was absolutely in immaculate condition. Somebody had beat me to it, made an offer on it sealed with a hand shake pending approval of the potential buyers wife, but........ no money had changed hands yet. Not a done deal. Since I had no time, my wonderful wife and great dad went on my behalf to look at the van with my unseen approval that if they both liked it, Ruth was to give the guy some money and buy it, quickly. The potential buyers wife disapproved of the purchase. We were in! Ruth made a fantastic offer on it which was hesitantly accepted! The van was ours! We are the proud owners of a beautiful Toyota van and it runs as good as it looks! God knew that all along. He also knew we needed funds to replace the old roof on our house which has been ravaged by rain and sun this year. Something that was out of the question only one week ago with the loan I had on my old newer car which I don't have (either of) cause I unexpectedly sold it and paid off the loan. Now I have the funds available for a new roof and the roofer who lives in this area with 40 years experience who just did my Grandfathers old house around the corner and did a very good job cause I saw it and his truck in the driveway where I got his name from and my wife also got a good feeling that he was the one and he gave us a price that was $3,500 under the closest estimate........ "breath"............. can you tell I'm excited? My grammar has gone right out the window.
Then, you know the best part of this whole thing for me was the guy who bought our car tells Ruth while they were waiting at the bank for me to pay the loan off that he chose us over other potential purchases because we were so honest and up front in our dealings with him. You know that's something we really strive for is complete honesty. That sometimes can get you in trouble with people. This time it paid off and God allowed us to hear about it. We needed that encouragement from our Heavenly Papa.
The moral of the story. Each morning we give our lives over to God and he is the one running the show. Father knows best. He is in control. His will be done. Thank you Abba!

7 comments:

D_Morrison said...

You'll have to post some Picturs of that new van Doug.

Dougie G said...

I will if I can figure out how to do that. I'm still a little green when it comes to picture posting.

D_Morrison said...

You can always ask Patti, she seems to be a pro when it comes to posting pictures :)

of course if we have that baby soon then you'll have a reason to drive down to pay us a visit.

kmorrison said...

Hey that's awsome. Congrats on the van. Don't you love when God let's us fret a bit just to show us that he really does know best.

Meredith said...

that's really encouraging to hear stories like that (especially about cars).

We just sold ours (which also worked out really, really well) and we've been there before too.

Patti said...

Wow, what a very exciting story!

Glad you stopped for a breath - I needed it too.

:)

Anonymous said...

It has been a great ride.....and it is only going to get better with the bith of our grandbaby and seeing what else God has in store.