The Caveat!
Around Nine Months Later....
The Caveat
Around Nine Months Later
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Blessed be Your glorious name!
It was around nine months after God led me to the Toyota T-100 that my oldest son, Drew, needed to get a “new” used car. He had around $4,000 for the purchase. I was so excited that he asked me to help him. I was pumped after God had provided so wonderfully for me and Debi. I was confident that God would do this again as I helped Drew.
Drew was living in College Station, but I believe he and I met in Waco to go car shopping. I had been praying fervently that God would guide our steps, but I don’t think I took the time, as we began our journey, to pray together. It wasn’t too long before we stopped at a dealership to look at used vehicles.
We saw a vehicle that was so clean! The salesperson came over to help us, and we looked under the hood. The engine was also so clean. The salesperson said the price was $3,750, so it was right in our range. He told us that the car had been owned by an older woman who had kept it in her garage and that she had recently passed away. Her family had brought it to the dealership to sell. I was seeing God’s provision and not the hook and the lie!
We purchased the car.
It was a lemon deluxe! I believe it had electrical issues, and God knows what else. Drew was in a place where he needed a reliable vehicle, and there were times when, inexplicably, it wouldn’t start. It would often miss and hesitate when going over 55 miles an hour. Drew tried to tough it out, but after about three months or so, it was more than he could handle.
I told him that I would bring him the Toyota T-100, and I would take the lemon. I had a good friend who owned an automotive repair shop, and I was confident that he could help me figure out what was wrong and get it running properly. Also, Debi and I were better situated in life to handle the challenges of the lemon than Drew was.
My friend who owned the automotive repair shop had his mechanics look at it numerous times. They turned that car inside out, but we could never figure out what was wrong with it. I had the car and all its challenges for two or three years. I also didn’t know how I was going to get rid of it because I couldn’t, in good conscience, sell it to anyone! Although, I knew a really good “story” that I could tell about why it was so clean.
It ended up that the government began offering a $1,750 rebate to anyone who traded in a car made before a certain year toward the purchase of a new car. I had a friend who knew of my dilemma, and they were about to purchase a new car. They offered me $1,500 for the lemon. They could then trade it in for the $1,750 rebate. They saved $250, and it got the car off my hands and out of my hair.
It was such a struggle for me to understand how things worked so incredibly well with the Toyota T-100 and so terribly with the other vehicle. I wish I could tell you the lessons I learned or explain why it all happened, but I honestly don’t know. What I do know is this: I am going to thank God and worship Him in both the good and the bad!