One of the things that we knew from the beginning that we needed to do was buy a car, but with our director in the states for our first 2 weeks in country and being able to borrow his car, along with a couple of others, we also knew that it would be a few weeks before we were able to get a car that was "ours".
Last Saturday, after Lowell returned, he and Lindsay and I went car shopping for a few hours. Car shopping here is not that much different than in the states, I guess. You see one you want to look at, pull in and peek, out comes a salesman who will torture you for a while about the price, you might possibly drive it, and then you get tortured by the salesman again. Pretty much the same, right?
So, off we went to La Vega, where there are more car lots than dogs on the street (and that's a lot). We checked out a few cars, none of which was really worth the money the dealers were asking. Lowell and I decided to drive one while Lindsay and the kids stayed in the air conditioned van that we came down in. I asked Lowell to drive it to see what he thought about the suspension and brakes. About 30 seconds into his drive, the car started to jerk really bad. I asked him why he was doing that, to which he replied "I'm not doing anything!!!" A few seconds later, we were off on the side of the road, with not a drop of gas in the car. Apparently this is a common thing here, as the dealers will leave little to no gas in the cars because, well, actually I don't know if I know why. Other than, possibly, they siphon out the gas and use it somewhere else. Or they are afraid of thieves siphoning out the gas at night. Either way, of the 4 or 5 cars we test drove over the next few days, not one of them showed any more than being right on "E". We did only run out of gas the one time, thank goodness.
So, after a long day of finding nothing, Lowell and I decided to try again on Tuesday. We found a few vehicles that day, and agreed to get in touch with our mechanic, find a time to take him with us, and let him check out the vehicles we liked. Pedrito is his name and he works on just about every car and truck that is owned in the SI staff family. He is a good friend of Lowell's, and he takes time to help us with things like buying a car, knowing that we will bring it to him for service. But, every car that Lowell and I liked, Pedrito found things about them that he thought were not too great. Every single car. So, we were back at square one, with no car and not even a prospect to have Pedrito check out.
Just then, Lowell says "Hey, I saw a car on my way back from the airport today, let's go look at that one, its only about 10 minutes away." So, up on the Autopista we went.
But just as we pulled onto the road, Lowell remarked about how there was a car similar to the one we were looking for, just three cars in front of us with a "Se Vende"(For sale) sign in the back window. I think he even said something like "We oughta call that guy, hahahaha." So Pedrito picks up his phone. Next thing we see is the guy driving look at his cell phone and then answers. After a few minutes of banter in spanish that I have no idea what was being said, Pedrito signals for Lowell to pull off, and sure enough, the car pulls off just in front of us.
After only a few minutes of looking over the car, Pedrito says to me, "Este carro es muy bien". At this point, I am not sure exactly what to say. We are in a parking lot for a furniture store, standing 15 feet from the Autopista (interstate), and now its time to negotiate for a car? So Pedro talked to the owner, told him what the car was worth, which was about a thousand less than the guy was asking originally, and that the owner had to bring it up the mountain to Jarabacoa to Pedrito's shop the next day to have him look at it and to sign papers. The owner agreed, showed up the next day, Pedrito talked him down in price even more, and an hour later, we drove away with our car, almost 3 thousand dollars less than what we were probably going to have to pay at a dealer.
God works in some amazing ways sometimes, providing for us at times when we least expect it. I am sure we would have found a car eventually, but maybe not in as good of condition as the one we bought and never for the price we paid for it. And looking at cars at the dealerships was getting us nowhere. But, just when I thought the process was going the wrong direction, I believe that for some strange reason, the God of the universe had even ordained when we would find the right car for us. Amazing to think that He even cares about those details. Plus, as we are often reminded, this culture will provide plenty of great stories to go along with just about every experience, as long as you are willing to just watch, listen, and enjoy the ride.
So today, and for the past week, we are praising God for His wonderful provision in our lives, and for the provision of a car for our family. And we are also thankful to God for his constant reminders to not take life too seriously, but rather, enjoy the humor and experiences that He gives us. God is not glorified when we worry or miss the things of this life that He gives, but rather, as John Piper says, "He is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him".
So here is our "new" car and a constant reminder to always be thankful for Jehovah Jireh, our provider.
Stay tuned for a few more blog posts, as we have a few more stories to tell...
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