Take a trip with me down memory lane.
The year is 2002. I am pregnant with my fourth child. Our familys only vehicle is a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis. Now, this as you can clearly see, is a large car, yet not large enough for my growing family. Its time to do what I had always said I would never doBECOME A MINIVAN DRIVER. The situation is complicated a bit when you add that we (my first husband and the father of ALL of my childrenyou know youve wanted to ask and didnt. The brown kid throws everybody off) are broke and have terrible credit. I took a part-time job working at an auto auction test driving every kind of car under the sun. That is where I fell in love with THE FORD WINDSTAR. I loved everything about that van.
There wasnt a dealership in the country that would give us a loan and time was running out. Once the baby was born, we wouldnt actually be able to all leave the house at the same time again, unless someone walked. I believed God was a god who understood the plight of His people, so I talked to him. I explained the situation and believed He would offer a solution. Now, when you are broke and pregnant and outgrowing your only form of transportation, a reminder of your faith is sometimes needed. I visited the Ford dealership that couldnt give us a loan and I took a brochure of the Windstar. I got it home, cut out all the pictures showing the van inside and out. I presented it to the kids and told them God would be helping us. We talked about who would sit in which seats and where to put the new baby. We then glued the pictures to a poster board (ok, it was an opened up manilla folder). We wrote the words Thank you Lord for our Windstar at the top and put it on display in the room we used the most, our home school classroom.
Each day, when we started school or anytime we passed by that poster, thats what we did. We thanked God for our new minivan. While this was happening, would you believe everytime I parked my car in a lot, I would return to find it, (once on THREE sides), surrounded by Windstars, not just minivans, the minivan I was asking for. Sometimes it felt like God was poking at me with a stick and laughing really hard. And sometimes, it felt like he was smiling at me for my faith. So, I kept on believing.
One day I got a call from the Ford dealership saying they would like to forward our info to another dealership that could help us. Within a few days, Frank (husband) was on his way to fill out some paperwork and get things rolling. Now, I had begged and threatened and got all scary like, trying to make sure he understood we were waiting for God to get us our Windstar. He on the other hand, thought I was out of my mind, and even a little cruel for dragging the kids into my fanatasies. Any minivan would do for him and thats what I was afraid we would get, just some dumb minivan. We received a phone call in a couple of days saying we qualified for a car and we needed to come to the lot.
Upon arriving, I scanned the lot, I saw Caravans and Ventures and Silhouettes and EVERY kind of minivan, but no Windstars. I am not happy. I try to get him to leave and go home, but as usual hes not going for it. I sit through the agony of financing and insurance and blah blah blah. I was defeated. I fought the good fight, and now this man was sabotaging the plan. When it was all said and done, the sales guy informs us that we wont actually be choosing our car, they would be choosing a car FOR us that weve been qualified for according to our financing. I want to kick somebody, and hard!
Our sales friend disappears for a while and returns with a set of keys with a yellow tag attached. I snatch them from his hand. Afterall, since hubby had ruined everything, I would atleast take it for the test drive. (Oh, and he was afraid of my driving too, that made it fun) I look down and the words written on that yellow key chain are ones I will never forget
1996 Ford WINDSTAR
I did the happy dance right there. I am screaming like boo-ya in my husbands face. I coudnt contain myself. I ran (for what running pregnant means) to that van jumped in and almost took off before he could catch up. Afterall, he didnt use HIS faith to get this van, he SHOULD walk!
God had come through!
Flash forward
A divorce
working 2 jobs to make the payments
hitting several parked cars ( i left apology notes)
backing off a cliff and getting the car wedged at a 70 degree on a drain pipe (dont ask)
side swiping a tree
rear ending a lady on an icy road
a slipping transmission
a place of worship
driving uninspected for 14 months (she just missed her 15 month over inspection anniversary)
windshield wipers that turned on and sprayed when you put on the turn signal (squeaking and sometimes even scraping when out of fluid)
a load of laundry to be found in her on ANY given day
car -sick kids
2 back wing windows that hadnt closed in years (shivering kids who sometimes got rained/snowed on)
11 cans of fix a flat (one that sprayed me in the face) and countless quarters when I couldnt afford new tires
more hours of prayer than any other place in my entire life
a toy box
a trash can
a hiding place
our escape vehicle
trips between York and Lancaster on fumes of faith (knowing the gas light has been on for days and your the youth leader that teens depend on)
one speeding ticket (i wanted it BAD)
a dinger that indicated that a door was open when none of them were, it got faaster when the headlights were on (some thought it fun to harmonize with)
camping vacations to Kettle Creek State Park
a million tears cried
a billion laughs
not one tune up, never an oil change on time, she took a beating. i fought hard to keep her and she fought hard to keep moving.
on saturday she took a turn for the worst and upon realizing it was her final ride, I took the wheel, we cranked up Hillsong and she carried us home for the last time.
we say our final good-bye to our Ford Windstaraka The Beast, The Shaggin Wagon, Nellie, Hunnie and Girl when I was urging her up big hills, The Junk Mobile
she will be missed and not soon forgotten. she has served as a sign of Gods faithfulness in the big and small. I am glad my kids got to grow up on poster boards and fumes of faith!
yes, i am crying over a red piece of metal with wheels! whatchya gonna do about it?!?!?!?!?