A gift.

This is going to blow your mind.

It blew mine. That's for sure. For one of the few times in my life, I actually found myself speechless.

A few weeks ago, the Mom of one of Stuart's students called out of the blue. I thought it was just to deal with a personal drama issue in the class (no doubt, even sixth graders have them)...but it wasn't, oh no, this was so much cooler.

Having been working on their taxes before the end of the year, this family's accountant had advised them to buy a new car. It was either that, or give a bunch of money to the IRS in taxes. They opted for the new car.

And...

Are you ready for it?

They wanted to give us their van.

*Enter speechless moment that proceeded throughout the rest of dinner*

Yes. I said give. Us a van. A 2002 Honda Odyssey, to be specific. 

And yes, it runs. It runs great!

I mean, literally, what do you say? What words even come to mind when someone has offered to give you such an enormous monetary gift?

Thank you didn't seem to suffice. 

We've been rockin' only one car since arriving in Alabama six months ago. Because we were only able to trailer one car down, we hooked up the X-Terra and sold off Stuart's $500 truck that we'd had. We were sad to say goodbye to that little truck - it was a great purchase for us. But moving came with sacrifice and switching to having only one car was part of that.

And really, before Owen arrived, having one car hadn't been too hard. Georgia and I were happy to drive Stuart to school (it's just five minutes down the road) and pick him up later in the afternoon. This gave us a chance to hang out at the school, help him clean his classroom, and mingle with the parents and staff at the school. Truth be told, I'm very thankful that this 'inconvenience' really allowed me to build relationships with people at the school that I otherwise would not have. 

We knew that eventually we'd need another car. We knew it wouldn't be easy to get two young children in the car before 7:00 a.m. We knew it wouldn't always be convenient to go pick him up with a new nap schedule to consider.

But, dang you Dave Ramsey, we also decided a few months back that we were committed to not taking on another financed vehicle. We knew that if we wanted another vehicle, we'd have to start saving for one. Easier said than done, no?

Yet here is where the Lord met us with this wonderful gift. Out of the blue. Totally random. A complete surprise. Another vehicle - praise God!


This way, Stuart can go to and from work as he wishes. This way, I have a convenient vehicle for hauling two kiddos around in. This way, I have (drum roll please) a built in DVD player to entertain them with! And this way, we have a backup if there is a mechanical problem with one of the vehicles. 

I am so grateful that their family chose to bless us in this way.

At a party a few weeks back, I ran into the Mom and gave her a big hug, thanking her for the van. I told her how much it meant to us and how we'd been praying about how this would all work once Owen arrived. She was ecstatic and admitted she was worried about how we would take the offer.

Why? I asked.

Well some people don't like hand-me-downs, ya know?, she replied. Some people would get offended to be offered something like that. 

But not me. I be all up in that hand-me-down business.

I pray that one day I can bless others the way we have been so blessed. I pray that one day I can be more on the 'giving' end and less on the 'receiving' end. I know that this is a particular season in our life where that isn't the case financially, but I do pray that we will be the hands and feet of Christ to others as they have been to us.

And by the way, if there was any doubt, I have officially been kicked up to 'Mom' status. Cruisin' the streets of Lower Alabama in my Honda Odyssey, baby.

Diaper bag in tow.

I think if Stuart and I ever go on a date night again, we'll take the X-Terra. Just to redeem the coolness factor a little bit. 

Ah, who am I kidding. It doesn't get any cooler (or practical) than a van.

True that.