Tuesday, October 16, 2012

not cool. anymore.

in one day 
Lydia and I both traded in our 'Cool Cards'.
We are no longer holders of said card.
Our 'cool' is gone.
So is all our money.

But, we love our new 'Not Cool Cards' so it's all cool.

Cool:

Not Cool:
 (flippin' adorable and actually, she...and I...really like them!)

Cool:
With the 'burb.
Cool mom's drive Suburbans. Didn't you know?


Not Cool:
Dorky mom's drive mini-vans.
(and moms that value the extra money saved in gas.
that way they have money to pay for stuff like....oh, say....braces?)




The Van Story....
because it's worth a HUGE shout out.

We were driving home from vacation and I said, "What do you think about getting a mini-van?".
And then I said, "Get behind me Satan!"
Jake started doing some research online (no worries, I was driving.).
We kinda settled on which kind of vans to look for, how much in gas we'd save, what van would be good if we ended up living back in a 'snowy' place, which van had the most cargo space, what our deal breakers would be, etc....it was a six hour drive.
By the time we got home, it was all settled.
We'd SLOWLY start looking for a van.  Maybe new, maybe used but just start looking.

A day or two later, Mr. Craigslist.org had this little gem of a van just sittin' there.
The puppy was loaded.  Like...loaded.
Like, has a sun-roof, leather, navigation, beeping things and automatic things and 11 cup holder things.
Loaded.

Something was wrong with the price though.
It was being listed for $10,000 below it's value.
Exactly in the range we were hoping for.

Why I doubt that God works in the little things and the things I personally think shouldn't matter to Him, I don't know...I just don't know.

We were ready to go cheap.  Bare bones.  Safe, big but not fancy.

God, however, was feelin' fancy.

I set up an appointment to test drive it....OH...we had to wait a few days because it was locked up in an auction lot waiting to be auctioned off - which fended off all the other people wanting to drive it because it wasn't available for a few days so they looked elsewhere.

Turns out the price was the way it was because it was being sold by a wholesaler for the purpose of auction....and after digging around, we found that to be legit.

And just in case I wasn't sure, God put a male secretary at Lydia's Orthodontics office who just happened to be a former car salesman and HE even confirmed it was legit. (I unleashed on him, out of curiosity, I still couldn't believe the price!?)

The ONLY time they had for an appointment that day was the exact time I was already dropping my kids off at a friends house to play anyway.
God.
Oh...and the car place that I wanted to drive it to to have it checked out by a mechanic, JUST happened to also have an appointment at the exact time I needed.
God.

I was sad about losing my Suburban.
Yes, it was 'my' idea but it was solely based on logic, not on fun or style or personality.
One of the things I was most sad about losing (there were lots but this was #1 on the list) was windows that roll down in the backseat area.  I LOVE watching wind blow in my girls hair and having them get fresh air like that.
I was resolved to just do without...they get plenty of air other ways.

BUT, as I was driving to the mechanic, at the exact time they had an appointment, I looked down and amongst all the many buttons and automatic things....there they were.
The buttons to ROLL DOWN THE BACK WINDOWS.

People.  I rolled those puppies down on a freeway and CRIED MY EYES OUT.
That's right.
I cried.
Over windows that roll down.

Over a God who flippin' cares about my windows.

We bought it a day later.
We are blown away by God's provision.

The guy at Lydia's Ortho.
The guy at our bank who was MORE than helpful and so cool about affirming that it was a great deal.
The windows that roll down.
THE SUN ROOF.

I may have traded in my style/cool card but I will never stop praising the story of this van.
It was timely.

I have been struggling with how blessed we are lately.
Another subject for another day on the blog but the short of it is:

No matter how much credit I give myself, the joke is on me.
Jesus rules my life.
He provides the blessings and the valleys.
I had just been coming to a place to enjoy the mountain top that is our life right now (enter sunshine and rainbows...that was for you Kristen C. ;-) and BAM! up rolls a fully-loaded, set aside, custom made for the Panter's MINIVAN!!!!!

It's all you God.
It's all YOU.



5 comments:

Courtney said...

wow!!! lydia looks beautiful!

and love your minivan story - He is AMAZING!!!

Brandi vidal said...

I say you and Lydia get to keep your cool cards. She is adorable. I loved the mini van story. BTW, you are looking fabulous sweetie. xoxo

Anonymous said...

love this story. Love the braces. love you :)

amy

Missy said...

Aw! Lydia is so sweet with her colored braces! And love the gangsta' pose in front of your burb! Ha ha! Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have no problem bringing the swagger to your mini van. Just give it a good name and you'll earn your cool card back.

Anonymous said...

Yep - I traded in the Suburban for a van too...a 12-passenger van :) so at least your van is cooler than ours.

And you look GREAT.

And I love Lydia's braces. Way cooler than the boring silver ones I had when I was a kid.

--Tina H.