Signs from God

Squishy and I are not what you would call religious by any stretch of the imagination. I'm more open to God then he is, but more in that I count my blessings/pray for people/watch for signs kind of way... not in the go to church way.

This last week though we encounter a strange series of events that is really making me feel like a higher power is watching out for us and cheering us on. The story makes me smile, so I thought I would share it here.

For the last few years, I have really wanted a mini van. A ring makes you officially married, a mini van makes you officially a mom, in my mind. The car I have I got in college and is not very suitable for one kid, let alone multiple children (manual locks, manual windows, no cruise control, no anti-lock brakes, and very little room for car seats). While Squishy was deployed it was okay because I could just drive his vehicle, but now that he is back, he wants his truck and not my car that recently lost power steering and air conditioning (so now it is a bit like driving a very hot go kart).

Mini vans are expensive and having recently become a Dave Ramsey convert, I was having mega guilty feelings about spending money on a luxury, rather than a need. Plus, as I have previously mentioned, adoption is expensive and we are watching every penny. Therefore, I had pretty much resigned myself to getting a used mini van and was trying to hold off as long as possible so that we could just pay cash.

A few weeks ago my husband went on a run past what we call "The Lemon Lot," the place on base folks park their vehicles for sale. It is kind of out of the way, so it is odd that he went past it all, but there for sale was a mini van. He let me know when he got home from working out and we went to look at it before he went to work. I thought it looked good and the price was right, so he took down the number. He test drove it later that day (I just defer to him on car matters and trust his judgment).

The next day we left for vacation and Squishy spent a great deal of the trip researching the vehicle and talking to his dad's about whether it was a good price and whether he should try to bargain. Towards the end of the trip, he called the seller, offered $500 less than asking price, and they accepted. We requested a check from our bank for the amount and set a time to finalize the sale.

When the check arrived, Squishy called the sellers, who informed him that they had "prayed about it" and took another $500 off the price. WHO DOES THAT?!? We were very thrilled, as again, every penny matters right now.

When we went to get the van yesterday, I told the seller how thankful I was because we were trying to adopt. She said that the van had been on the lot for nearly a month with no real interest and that the day Squishy called, she just knew we were the right family. After she and Squishy finalized the price, her daily scripture was about how you get richer by giving, so she texted her husband and said that she wanted to lower the price and he agreed. Turns out that they are also Dave Ramsey converts. Oh, and they are getting ready to go on vacation, where they plan to meet with an adoption agency!

Pretty freaky, huh? But it gets better...

Since we knew we were buying the mini van, last weekend I had Squishy put my car up on Craigs List. He got a couple of hits and had a few folks test drive it early in the week. Today he had another appointment for a family to test drive it, and it sounds like they are the ones. Here's why:

I am a pretty big Scooby Doo fan, so there is a bumper sticker, floor mats, and sun shade in my car. Turns out they want to buy it for their 16 year old son who is "the biggest Scooby fan ever."

Also, Squishy's brother joined the Marines out of high school and I promptly slapped a "my brother is a US Marine" bumper sticker on the car. Turns out their other son is getting ready to leave for Marine basic.

And in more "who does that?" craziness... tomorrow Squishy is meeting them to have a mechanic friend of theirs fix the belt that is causing the AC and power steering not to work. Keep in mind, they haven't bought the car yet! How awesome is that? I can't imagine that they will go to all that work and then not want it, so with a little luck, that vehicle will be sold very soon.

It just makes me smile that everything comes full circle. And it has been so heart warming to see people just do nice things (lower the price, fix a car that isn't theirs yet).