My New Wheels

Out with the old….

In with the new…

I love my new Toyota! It’s exactly the size and the color car that I wanted, and I love the husband more than ever for getting it for me. I have named it “Ebenezer” because I’m one of those oddballs who feels the need to give a car a name. I named him Ebenezer… not after Ebenezer Scrooge, which I had been this year, but in reference to I Samuel 7:12.  Then Samuel took a stone, and set [it] between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Thus far hath the LORD helped us.

Thus far has the LORD helped us.

This car isn’t just a set of wheels to us. It is a physical reminder, a big old stone of remembrance, of  how far God has brought us this past year. Exactly one year ago today, I watched as they towed away our family van to give it to the Cars for Kids charity. After braving two busy daughters, one road running mom, two large bucks, and a stubborn concrete median, the old gal had finally given up the ghost, and we decided that a donation was the best option. I even snapped a picture as the van~on~tow moved out of the neighborhood. Why I took the picture, I don’t know. I guess that I wanted to save it for such a time as this.

Patiently waiting isn’t always easy for me, and 2009 was no exception as I tried to manage sharing the (trusty?) old Nissan with that overscheduled teenager of mine who has to drive thirty miles in each direction just to get to school every day. To say that my magnanimous patience masqueraded as a private pity party more than a time or two is a teeny bit of an understatement. But wait we did, as we faithfully recovered from six months of unemployment in 2008,  the terrible horrible really bad no good year.  Not having car payments during that time had been a big blessing. Not having a car at this time, not so much.

So we trudged through 2009 with an ear to God and found a more solid footing. For several months, the husband has felt peace to take the plunge. I was the holdout. To be honest, my trust button is still on the fritz. Lurking in the back of my mind is a pesky little ghostie who whispers, “What if it happens again?”

But I decided to give my husband the gift of my trust this Christmas. And in return, he gave me a set of keys.

Thus far has the LORD  helped us.



384 words…. Good grief.