The daily world, trials, broken dreams, disappointment, pushes to the side away from our sight something important: We have a hope in him. one we can count on, believe in, and TRUST. Don't let the present pull you down. Grab a hold of this and live fully in the day! He IS working on our behalf-
Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us

Amazed, Blown away and Grateful.

We have had several family needs for some time. Both Bowen and I needing new cars was at the top of the list. We have been contently (some days) waiting for the blessing. provision, deal, and clarity on what to do and not do. Some day in weariness I would feel deserted- Where are you God?
You know the need- I know you are faithful and able to meet this need- but my faith is small and weariness is like a fog some days.

 Bowen graciously drives around in hand me down Camry someone gave him a few years ago (at a very timely time) His car before that was a neighbor/good friends old Mercedes. ( lovingly called the beast) I love that man- He did not have AC for a year while driving that car.

 My 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan hit 143m and started acting weird a couple of months ago.
Being content when your headliner looks like a magic carpet- and hits you in the head is not always easy. One night we had teenagers in the car. Girls that are not regulars with us. They wanted to know was the ceiling "was falling on them".  Beth was horrified to say the least- and my heart heavy for her.
We prayed, I started researching, and we waited, we believed, we stood,
We made commitment to stay the course- A car payment is not doable unless we can get it under $150.
So clearly, we needed a miracle-  God knew this and started his plan without my help.

 So we were at a cross roads. Could we trade it in and still have an equity to cover the down payment? I kept having this feeling, sense, unction, we needed to get an experienced person watching out for us. I knew we did not have a lot of time.
 A month ago I told a beloved, faith-filled, honest car salesmen from church to start watching for a deal in vans. We had to have a 7 or 8 seater.

Today, I, in a frustrated moment (after the engine cut off at 55 on AIA) took a step of faith- Maybe God had a $7000 van with low miles out there with our name on it? Why not at least look into?
So I called the salesman-
He actually had one on the lot that might work for us. Low miles, under $7000. He said "Bring the old van and lets see what it's worth, and test drive the two"
 So we carefully started across town to see it and let him get ours appraised.

 While driving Bowen vented why are we off to look? We had no down payment- A very limited budget-  I was crunching numbers, looking up kelley blue book value and "banking" on the equity that I thought we had in the old van.  I had this strange feeling inside- the window was narrowing especially when looking at the broken electrical in windows, the headliner, upcoming large repairs, problems with the make.

Not knowing FOR SURE what ours was worth- we took a drive to see if we liked one. After running the numbers, our van gave us only 1000. (the internet had told me on multiple sites we could get anywhere from 2500-4000)

Basically without a down payment it would not work. We could not do a $300 payment.
 He left for awhile-
To be honest- I was not praying for favor- I was thinking and willing to go back into "waiting"
And- our prayer had been "Lord Direct and show us what to do"

A couple of years ago I experienced several injustice's that broke my heart. It shook me to the core on fairness, standards, consistently. Honestly- That wound still at times needs care.

Our friend- came back in laughing as he had run Bowen (AKA DeWitt) and the rate was wrong. So he handed us new paperwork to look at.
There were several payment options within our budget.
Then I looked and saw something- There was a down payment listed-  One that enabled us to have the payment we needed. I stopped in my arrested in the spirit and pointed at it. Someone was stepping in for us, to help us, to encourage us, to care for us- reminding me that God knows well and is "meeting us"
We all broke into tears. Amazed- shocked- grateful- at a loss for words-

God did something special- he used someone else to "love, encourage, build up" me/us.
To remind me- He is present, he knows my/our needs, he knew me/our pain, he knows when I question things, he knows when I need him to step in.
There were times especially this year- I felt like quitting, throwing in the towel, giving up the running of the race. And many times I was near fainting~

I thank God for this person who willing said "Here I am Lord use me"  I pray that there family will be overwhelmed in the meeting/giving to our family. Embraced by his presence like our family is this day.

Goodbye magic carpet- We are blessed and highly favored today!

In his grip- Holding on- Not fainting- Believing-
Faith- Family- Growing in 2013   Lissa+

(By the way- I did not let anyone know that the van was cutting off again- This all happened in a unexpectedly in the last two days)