God Really DOES Answer Prayers!

Sometimes we think that God doesn't hear us when we pray, or that He is just simply ignoring our prayers. Many will pray and pray and pray for something, but when they don't get it, they get discouraged-even to the point of no longer going to God for anything. Sometimes what we don't realize is that He IS listening, and that HE is in control. God is an all-knowing God, and He knows what you need..and what you don't need.

We currently only have one car, and it is difficult. I've always been used to having my own car, and doing whatever I want or need to do, when I wanted or needed to do it. That hasn't been so for a while. This past summer I had to get rid of my car..my precious new Altima, because we could not afford it if we were going to get ourselves out of the financial hole we put ourselves in to in a year with only one income. About a month before I had to give up my car, my husband Mike was practically given a car for free. Now this wasn't the newest or coolest car. It was a 1988 Dodge Lancer (yes, you read correctly..DODGE Lancer..not Mitsubishi..never heard of it? Neither had I until we got it)...and it was manual transmission. Did I mention I have never driven stick in my life? Well, I had never driven stick in my life. You could imagine my "joy" at having to give up my "precious" car, only to get an old one that I couldn't even drive. My mindset has changed now,  but at the time it seemed like I was the unhappiest person you could imagine.

A couple of months ago, we set a new goal; to get a mini-van. I always said I would NEVER be a mini van..it was SUV only for me. However, being as economically minded as I now am, I'd rather get all the space for less (price and gas-wise). Now the goal is to get a minivan. We would get our finances straight, then buy a new(er) van. Sounded great, but I'm a somewhat impatient person (one thing I am really working on). I'm literally counting down till we can get one. Recently an unexpected opportunity came up. An acquaintance of Mike's had a minivan he could no longer afford. He still owed a couple thousand, and asked Mike if he'd like to take over the payments, and then  have the title once paid. You could imagine my excitement at the opportunity. I think I said yes before Mike finished telling me what I thought about the situation. Mike, being the calm and rational one that he is, told me not to get too excited. He reminded me that we need to pray about it to see if it is God's will (I am very thankful that the Lord has given me the man that I have..he truly is my better half..my less impulsive better half..unless it has to do with food LOL). So we began to pray. Meanwhile, the acquaintance..we'll call him M, was going to be gone for a few days. One thing he mentioned to Mike was that he was behind on payments, but would pay the past due if we decided to take it. In my head, this seemed like a no-brainer, but I just prayed about it. Mike would continually pray that if this is God's will for us, that it will be smoothly. He also prayed that if it isn't, for God to make it an obvious impossibility. So far everything seemed like it would go smoothly. They talked everything out, and M told Mike he'd bring the van midweek so that I could test drive it and see if I liked it. If I did, we'd probably have it by the end of the week. The day I would see our future van came, and I wanted to go first thing in the morning. However, my little munchkin was sleeping, and I do not like disrupting his naps. So, I told Mike I'd go with him after lunch to look at it.

A couple of hours later, Mike calls me to let me know that M did not go to work. Turns out, the van was repossessed the night before. You would think I'd be disappointed, but my response was laughter. We were praying for an obvious answer from God about whether the van would be right for us or not. I could not have imagined any answer more clearer than the van not being available anymore!

I'm thankful that things turned out the way they did. Although we did not get the answer we may have hoped for, we know that God probably has a better idea for us, so we will trust in him! We decided we would just stay focused on the first goal at hand, which was to get debt free. THEN, we'll get a van. Hopefully, this fall we will have our van, unless of course, God has other plans! :)