During the summer of 1994, we lived in Bryan, Texas while I was attending Texas A&M full time. Donna was pregnant with Caleb, our 4th son. We had outgrown our Mercury Topaz, so Donna prayed for another vehicle very specifically:
- Plymouth Voyager or its equivalent, Dodge Caravan
- Extended model (Grand)
- Dual air conditioning
- Under 65,000 miles
- 4 years old or less
- Tinted windows
- Be in our price range
- Maroon (hey, we’re Aggies…)
I kept looking at the classifieds for Bryan/College Station and Houston. I finally found something, but it was none of the above–except for being a Caravan. When I showed Donna, she said “That’s not the answer to my prayer.” I said “How do you know?” She said “That’s not what I prayed for.”
I had no idea you could make a prayer request like that to God
This van was in Houston, so we drove to go get it and spent the night with my folks on the other side of Houston in La Marque, Texas. We spent $5,400 on this van. It was brown and quite unattractive to both of us. The next day, we saw that it was leaking transmission fluid. I also saw that the agreement I signed was “As Is”. We took it to a shop where they informed us it would cost over $2,000 to repair/replace the transmission. That morning I was very disappointed with what happened, especially with regards to Donna and her knowing it wasn’t the right one in the first place. I imagined she was thinking it, but she never did say “I told you so.” Meanwhile, my bad decision was about to get even worse.
We headed back to Bryan that afternoon in our “new” van. We were driving on Highway 290, a divided highway just west of Houston. Although the speed limit was 65mph, there were still a few intersections with traffic lights. We had the green light going through one of them, but another driver came barreling through that intersection at 45mph–never stopping for their red light. We met corner to corner and both vehicles were totalled. The collision caused us to veer to the left 90 degrees, where we just barely squeezed in between a utility box and the traffic light pole. Our van would have ended up in the east bound traffic on Highway 290 were it not for the sheer width of this huge grassy median between east and west bound traffic (and, of course, God’s grace).
My baby, Cory, had blood coming out of his mouth
Our insurance provider would only reimburse us for $4,800, so now I was out of the problem of having a van that needed $2,000 in repairs, but I had lost $600 in the process, but that was nothing compared to all the pain, stress and suffering I had brought upon my family. We cried out to God for help, and He directed us to a lawyer since we were incurring medical expenses.
This lawyer was successful in getting us remedy for the medical expenses. He also negotiated the insurance provider to reimburse us $8,000 for the van! Now we were up $2,600 which meant we could increase the price range for our van search.
A few weeks passed and I found another ad for a van, again in Houston. This time it met maybe 2 or 3 of the criteria, and again Donna reminded me that it was not the answer to her prayer. I countered that with the fact that this time I would pay for a mechanic to do a proper inspection on the vehicle and would not purchase it if it didn’t pass muster. She again submitted, but not gladly since she did not have peace about this van, either. When we got to Houston, we found out that the advertised van was lacking the dual air. I probably would have bought it anyway were it not for the mechanic insisting we not buy this van.
As we took the van for a test drive, the mechanic found out we were Christians who home-schooled, and he told us he was a pastor! The mechanic job was just a part-time thing for him. He pointed out several problems with the van including a cracked engine block and an odometer that had signs of tampering. When I originally scheduled this inspection, I was told the inspection would cost $125. This pastor told us that since we were not buying this vehicle he did not want to charge us, but just wanted to bless us. He refused to accept any money for his time and effort! He only asked that if we ended up finding another vehicle in Houston, that we would use his services again. We agreed and thanked him.
Well, a short time later, we found another van. Again it was in Houston, so we arranged an inspection with this same gentleman. He ran the vehicle through all the checklist items, and it passed with flying colors. He was actually amazed at what great shape it was in. Now, I was ready to pay the $125 inspection fee, when he told me that since we were “repeat” customers we qualified for a discount and only had to pay $75! Wow, God is good.
In August of 1994, we bought a 1990 model Plymouth Grand Voyager. This van had dual air conditioning, tinted windows, less than 65,000 miles on it, and was well enough into our price range, that we were even able to afford an extended warranty on it that was available because of the stellar inspection.
And you better believe this, too: It was maroon!
God, in His infinite mercy, restored to us all that had been lost
I am grateful to God for His patience with me, and I vow to be patient with Him and trust Him to do what He has promised. These days, I know His promises and expect nothing less!
Did you know you could be so specific when you prayed? Back then, I had no clue. I am getting one, now, however. He means what He says.
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [John 14:13]
Glory to God.
