My little/big family made the decision recently to make the decision to upgrade our vehicle. I won't go into all of the nitty, gritty details, but I want to share and hopefully bring someone encouragement!
Last January, while providing respite our first time, I was driving a Jeep Liberty (loved that car by the way!) and picked up two little girls who had three other siblings. We were only watching them for the weekend, it was a great way to "get our feet wet" in the world of parenting. As soon as I picked them up, they told me my car was too small! They were 3 & 5! They explained to me that their foster parents had a van, and I should be driving a van too. I drove a van in high school and was not super eager to jump back into a minivan, but Ben and I realized over the weekend they were right! Kids come with a bunch of STUFF! We had received calls about picking up sibling groups of four and five, and being that I was super eager to be a mom, I didn't turn a single one down! I didn't really consider the transportation thing, but we decided that weekend to walk into a car dealership and trade in my first love.
Two weeks after, we received the call to pick up four kids, three of whom were in car seats. It's a great thing we made the switch to the minivan! The van served us well for almost an entire year, but as older cars with many miles do, it was reaching the end of what it could offer us. It decided a couple of times to not start, the dashboard looked like a Christmas tree of lights that could not be turned off because there was simply nothing wrong with what it told us was wrong. The key even broke in the ignition when Ben was driving it one night! Long story short, it was time to move on.
We began our car shopping journey. Let me tell you, this ordeal was way more complex than an "on the whim" van purchase like we had last year. First, there was the matter of what I thought was my terrible credit and then it is hard to verify your income when you are a foster parent. What we found out is that my credit was not as bad as I had feared, in fact, it was decent except for a few things and one glaring mark from CapitalOne that I had no idea existed. I contacted all of the right companies and CapitalOne assured me they would be closing the account and wiping it off my credit..in 60-90 days!
Then we found a car we loved, but was out of budget, a Ford Flex. To my surprise, my husband offered to trade in HIS first love, his truck, and see what we could do to make the Flex within reach.
After talking to the dealer, who didn't really know what to do with our income as foster parents, he recommended we talk to credit unions face to face and see what they could do. I went to my first credit union and was denied because of the CapitalOne account specifically. They told us that until that account was cleared from my credit report they could not approve me. I was so disappointed and thought for sure my new car was no longer in reach. Then my mom said something I will always remember,"If Jesus wants you to have that car, you will get that car."
We decided to take one more day and go talk to another credit union. After waiting all day for the phone call, we found out that not only were we approved, but we were approved for a whole interest percentage LOWER than what we were originally quoted by what the dealer thought we could get! I know that my Jesus loves me and cares for me, and even when I can't see His entire plan laid before me, He certainly has one and it is what's best for us.
Sure, this is a car. But how many times have we felt "declined" from what we wanted in life, only to find out that He has something else approved for us that is better than we thought of in the first place? I'm currently listening to my new Hillsong album and I love this line, "Your love is RELENTLESS!" Relentless means OPPRESSIVELY CONSTANT. God, the Father and Creator of the universe, everything you see, the whole world around you, there from the beginning and will be there through the end, loves you relentlessly. His love is constant, it is never ceasing, will always be with you and wants what is best for you. Sometimes we feel like we're in the middle of the decline, when He is preparing you for His good plan He promised you!
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