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| Classy Flo |
This is our newest family member, Flo. She is a classy broad who reminds me a lot of the smooth rides and slow jams (Kenny G) experienced in the good ol' Bowman Caprice.
I wanted to share a little story about this car because it kind of gives you a glimpse into some of the lessons God has been teaching me.
Some of you might remember sexy Alejandro, my little Kia Sportage SUV I bought in 2011. Alejandro was a car that I could "afford" but definitely put a dent in the monthly budget. He was sleek, sporty and fun. I totally deserved him because I am a hard working HR Professional and have climbed the corporate ladder so I could afford nice things. Right??
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| ¡Alejandro! |
Since marrying Dan, who is a financial wizard, we have worked hard to be good stewards of our funds and have paid off a large amount of debt (mostly from me) acquired previous to marriage. But we still felt like we could do more to further Christ's kingdom if we had less tied up in our own stuff. We wanted to be able to give more freely to missions, local causes, or just lend someone a helping hand. When Dan suggested we sell my car last summer, I actually didn't hit him! I know, I was shocked that my reaction was, "yeah, Ok." We determined that if we sold it now, we could actually walk away with nothing to owe and then be a 1 car family until we could save for a used car we could buy out right. This was all God working on my heart because I am not usually one to leave comforts and shiny things behind. That is why I am usually hard to buy for at Christmas because when I want something, generally I just buy it! (*See the large amount of debt we paid off as a result of these impulses) It was actually quite easy for me to say good bye to Alejandro (and his hefty monthly payment). I felt a peace about it and was excited to be able to free us up and take some of the worry/burden off my husband. When we went to the dealership to find Alejandro a new home, we were amazed at how God worked out those details too. They offered us more than we initially planned!
Some benefits of a 1 car family means I get a mini date with my husband to and from work. We definitely had to increase our communication since coordinating demanding schedules and soccer games is a challenge with 1 vehicle. It was a pain once in a while, but for the gain, it really was nice living more "simply".
Enter Flo. As we prepare for Baby Liss to join us this fall, we started to do some research on used cars in the area. We still had a few more months to save for what we thought was the amount we could get a decent used car. One day, a friend from Dan's work texted him some pictures of a car he knew was for sale. It was being sold by a family at our church whose elderly mother was no longer able to drive. The car was 12 years old with all the bells and whistles from 2002 (leather seats, climate control, CRUISE control! <-- we have missed this most!). And in addition to the *MINT* condition (seriously, 3 layers of floor mats - Dad would be jealous), the little old lady had not even surpassed 17 thousand miles!! She said she only drove it on Sundays to church and hadn't driven since 2008. WHAT?? And for a very good price that just so happened to be the amount we had in the bank... PROVISION! Thank you Jesus! Dan can even fit in the back seat so this will be a much better fit as we add a baby carrier (AND ALL THE BABY THINGS!) to our lives.
Flo is far above what we had imagined in that she is a great, great car, in excellent condition, for what we would have paid for a crappy newer base car with 100K miles or worse. It is like luxury- especially after spending months in Hank (Dan's Ford escort with CRANK WINDOWS!)
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| Good ol Hank |
