Sunday, February 27, 2011

Numbers

I'm doing a Bible Study with a friend of mine, and we're reading Numbers. But the first half has been kind of boring, and I was reading a more exciting book for Book Club, that I just finished, so I got behind on Numbers.
This last week has been a little rough. Somehow February is ending, and we're still in limbo on the houses, it's been putting a lot of stress on both of us. Then we got a recall letter from Ford on my Windstar about salt damaging the axles, and that we need to bring it to be checked, if they need to keep it to fix it, then they would give me a rental. Hooray!
So I took my minivan in on Tuesday, they gave me a rental, a Kia Borrego from Enterprise. It's kind of like an SUV, but no 4WD, and it has technically 3 rows of seats, but the two-seater stroller is not fitting in the 'trunk' when the third seat is up, but fits nicely when it's down. I do get a kick out of putting the seats up and down all by myself, which is something I couldn't do in my minivan.
The next day they called, and said we qualified for 2 recalls, because we had salty induced rust spots on our front subframe (1 recall) and on our axle (another recall) holes actually, and it would take at least a month to fix, they had like 50 Windstars parked unable to drive. We started referring to our car as The Death Trap.
I am Particularly Thankful to God that Ford found these problems, and that something didn't happen to the Windstar while we were toting our Precious Cargo.
The next day (Thursday), Ford calls and gives us a "Choice". They decided not to fix our car. Not worth it to them I guess, was worth it to us, especially since they were all recall fixes, we've put a lot of $$ into that car lately. We just needed it to hold out until next year, after we're all moved in, and able to save up a nice chunk of change. They say we can choose: A. $3500 and they keep our car, or B. Sign that we agree that it's a Death Trap and take the car home and drive it. (Yeah right.) Well, for a day or so, we toiled. We can't drive it. We can't afford a new car, don't even have a down payment.
Well, Eric was perusing on Thursday night and Friday, and turns out if we get a loan (which Dave Ramsey would not want us to do) we can do it. Once we realized, and admitted that we were going to go into debt, it became easier, less stressful.
Friday, we went car shopping, turns out Enterprise is getting rid of their 2010 fleet of minivans, and we could get a good deal, so we drove over and took a look. Turns out my sister in law has the same exact car, so we took a look at hers, and liked it. So we chose a 2010 Grand Caravan. We picked a blue one, currently in Ohio, but we signed our lives away, and bought a mostly new car. Oy.
I'm excited I'm getting a new car, but at the same time, there's been a pit in my stomach, we seem to be acquiring a lot of debt this spring, new car new house, enough to give us ulcers. I'm so worried.

Friday evening, as I'm getting ready for bed, I pick up my Bible, to read another chapter. I was reading in Numbers 14, God is fed up, because the Israelites aren't trusting him to provide, they've seen the Promised Land, but they're too scared to go get it. God gets frustrated. Numbers 14:12 "How long will these people treat me like dirt? How long refuse to Trust Me? And with all these signs I've done among them?" [The Message]
It was like he was saying it to me, here I was so worried about the house, and the car, and the partridges in pear trees. And here's God..just like always. Why am I so dense as to forget to just put it all in his hands? We did it. It was done. We bought the car. God's just going to Provide the rest. And I just need to give it all up to him, quit doubting, and Trust Him.

As if to hammer it home, today, our church sermon focused on Matthew 6, and giving up our Worries.

Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? (Or Cars or Houses) See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [NIV]

Amazing. Sometimes God really has to hammer it into my head for me to get it. Even Chris enjoyed the children's sermon. They played the song 'Three Little Birds' by Bob Marley, a little kid was singing, "Don't Worry about a thing. Every little thing, is going to be all right." I had it stuck in my head, I was humming it, and Chris was singing along a bit with me in his way, 'don't worry because God's got it right'. Yes he does. But I'm getting it. And I'm actually really excited to continue my Bible Studying this weekend, because I can't wait to see what else he's going to tell me.

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