"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Matthew 6:33
The return to Pennsylvania was a bit unsettling. The original plan was to be in Hawaii for up to two years, so the necessary, but unexpected departure was riddled with uncertainty. My home was rented. I had given up my employment to go help with the care of my grandchildren and I had sold my car.
"What are you going to do?," was the concerned questioning from well meaning friends and family members.
"I am going to trust God and watch Him do what He says He will do as I believe Matthew 6:33...His Word is true.," was my confident response, though there are definitely moments of not so much confidence as I look at my circumstances. This is what I need...a vehicle, housing and a source of income. And I had no idea where to even start, each one seemed to hinge on the other. What an opportunity for God to show off!
My gracious daughters and their families have provided a temporary place to lay my head as they moved their children around to squeeze me into their homes. In constant communion with The Lord, I determined to start a search for a vehicle, based on a $2,000 budget.
Saturday brought my daughter and I to a dealership in Lancaster, recommended by a friend, and resulting in bitter disappointment. $2,000 buys stinky, cigarette-burned seats with milage in the 150,000 range and a really-bad-paint job vehicle. The salesman encouraged me to buy the ancient Oldsmobile that appeared to be something a great, great grandparent had driven. It was Shannon that told me to not even bother test driving it, surely God had something better for me.
Curt, my covenant husband, had agreed to take a look at the car once I found one. When I texted him that our trip was a bust, he suggested that I look at the local garages that we used in the past for service as they sometimes handled the sale of used cars. What a great idea and one I hadn't thought of! I checked the website for Eagle Brother's and they had six cars for sale. Five were over $10,000 and one was $2,995. It was late Saturday night and they were not open on Sunday, so 7 year old Dylan and I decided to take the one hour walk on the Rails to Trails late Sunday morning to see if it was still there. What a trooper he was, as we made it all the way there and back on the icy trail, and as he would tell you, he only fell thirteen times and Grandma only once! You can see from the picture that Dylan liked it!
Shannon and I went to test drive it on Monday morning, took a spin and had no idea what questions we should ask. It was a 2002 Ford Taurus with 96,000 miles on it, and it wasn't stinky. Arlin, the salesman was so kind and told us what he knew about the vehicle and reduced the price to $2,800. I told him that my husband was planning to stop in after work to test drive it and I would let him know by the morning.
Curt called after he drove the car and told me he thought it was a good deal and it rode nicely, he thought I should buy it. So, I proceeded to transfer the money, set up insurance and made arrangements to meet Arlin the next day to transfer everything into my name.
On Tuesday, we met at 10:00 at Eagle Brother's. I paid him $2,800 in a check for the car. we then rode together to Sonrise Tag and Title, about 10 minutes away, to complete the transfer and pay the taxes, tags, etc. Arlin and I easily chatted on the way about The Lord and all He was doing, having just provided Arlin with a property in Pine Grove. When we reached Sonrise, Arlin turned to me and asked if I was still living with Curt.
Oh my! And so, God opened my mouth to tell Arlin of Curt's abandonment of our family 12 years ago and God's call on me to stand for restoration and healing of our family for His sake. And he listened and agreed that God's heart is ALWAYS to restore. And I shared Matthew 6:33 and God's assurance that He would meet my needs as I trusted in Him. He asked if I had a job and I told him that my desire was for ministry to women who have found themselves in my position. The church has often failed them, judged them and I want them to know how to walk through the pain with Jesus and hold on for restoration, God's way. And so the discussion went, the transfer happened and we drove back to Eagle Brother's. Arlin cleaned the stickers off the car and I asked if there was anything else we needed to do. He quickly left and returned to his office and back, and said, "Yes, I am giving this back to you."
Into my hand, he placed my check.
For $2,800.
I gasped. I wept. I protested.
He insisted and told me that I needed it more than he did. This is what we do for our brothers and sisters in Christ. He said he had a good year and I was working for God and he wanted me to have it. He will be praying for God's promised restoration for Curt and I.
And I was speechless.
I drove away.
God whispered, "Marti, you seek first My kingdom and I am giving you all the things you need. Car...check! Wait till you see what I do next!"
Amazing...absolutely AMAZING GOD!
