We've always wanted to spend some time in the Rocky Mountains, so we were all looking forward to the camping trip we planned as we passed through Colorado on the way to California. What we never expected was that we'd spend all 4 days of our time in Denver stranded at a hotel with a broken down car.
I must admit that there were times of discouragement and self-pity as we struggled through the hassles that come from being stuck in a city where you don't know anyone. I have not worked since November 2009, so our budget is set up to barely scrape by as we go through missionary training. But overall, we were trusting that the Lord would provide for us. The Lord did provide, and we were blessed with a new car! Here's the story...
Our car started acting up the day before we arrived in Denver. We took it to 2 mechanics, and both times the symptoms were not apparent while the mechanics looked at it. The next day, we arrived in Denver and knew the problem was getting worse. We got a hotel and found a mechanic the next day. We found out later that we needed a new transmission. Our 1989 Mazda MPV, with its complicated 4WD transmission, was too expensive to fix. We were stuck!
I visited a used car lot, and was discouraged to find nothing in our price range. I told the salesman, who was not a believer, about God's provision in the past. I explained that it would be hard to buy a car from him, knowing that at any moment God might provide a far better option. I don't think he was too convinced.
That night, a friend called and said, "some family members, who live in Denver, are selling their '96 Corolla, and we just bought it for you!" I called the car salesman the next day and said, "guess what, God just provided us with a better option!" I don't think he was too thrilled.
We were so thankful and amazed! God had provided us with a good car, and had done so through good friends! We were hoping all of our luggage and camping gear that barely fit in our van would fit in the Corolla.
Kristi and I installed a roof-rack, and assembled an inexpensive car-top carrier from Sears. The blacktop was hot, hot, hot, so we had to lay blankets down while we worked.
The other guests at the hotel we were staying at were curious about all the mess we had made in the parking lot. It looked like we were trying to have a garage sale!
Done! We were able to fit most of our things in the car, and there was a dumpster nearby for the few things that wouldn't make it. We thought about shipping those things home, but it was too expensive, so we cut our losses, rejoiced in the gain of a new car, and got back on the road in a jiffy!
