I
think I inherited my dad’s philosophy about cars. “Cars are simply a tool to
get you from point A to point B safely, and faster than walking.” Oh sure, keep
them clean and fixed up, but they don’t have to be new. In fact, as far as I
know, the only new car my dad ever owned was a 57 Chevy that he had before he
got married. Mom always got the better car; he drove a work van.
My
dad was also a Mr. Fix-it He could fix almost anything, and some things that shouldn't have been able to be fixed. I inherited that trait too. Living in
California for so many years, I am convinced that u can get almost anything for
free (or very little) if you’re not in a hurry and it doesn't have to be new.
We
have owned 12 cars. We have only paid for two of them. One of those was a
lemon. There are a few that really stand out in my memory, not because I liked
them particularly, but because they were “God Gifts”.
The first memorable
car was a blue, four-door 1974 Ford Maverick. It was given to us by a friend. It
was in very good shape body-wise. It just had a cracked engine block. Good
find, but I didn't have any free money to spend on the car. While we were
saving up, the school I was teaching at was broken into, my classroom included.
Although they stole mostly junk, I still got a couple of hundred dollars from
the insurance company. Money in hand, I went to a local junk yard to see what I
could find. Usually all the good engines in this particular yard are already
pulled and in a separate room. As I looked around, there was an engine, exactly
what I needed, with the transmission still attached lying right there in the
aisle. When I asked one of the yard workers how much he wanted for it, he just
scratched his head and said, “Where did that come from?” he finally said,
“$150.00 and it’s yours.” This was cheaper than the price of just an engine!
When we got it home, we realized it had just been rebuilt. The car must have
been in an accident. It didn't even have to be rebuilt. We used most of the
peripheral parts from the old engine and put it all together. It ran like a
dream! We drove it for years. It took exactly the amount of money that I had
gotten from the insurance claim. Well, there was $10.00 left over, just enough
for a tank of gas.
The
second car was technically never really mine. A friend gave us a car that used
to belong to her brother. It wasn't even in that good of shape, but it ran. A
mechanic had told her that it had rotten freeze plugs, a nasty fix on this type
of car. She asked us if we wanted it to fix up. I reluctantly took the car.
Upon closer inspection, the leak turned out to be a bottom radiator hose. After
one cut with a knife, I slid the hose back on and fastened the clamp. A few days later, I sold it for $350.00. Not
bad for 15 minutes of work.
The third car
was a blessing in the middle of chaos. I was having a rough year. I had lost my
dad, and now I had to spend most of August on a jury for a civil trial. We had
a new baby, and this made the old car too small. I was having bouts of fierce
heartburn. A friend of ours was checking up on me, and I mentioned the car
problem. She reminded me that her husband was a used car salesman. (He happens
to be the only used car salesman I ever trusted.) They invited us to stay at
their house while we looked for a car. He found a van, and even made the
financing fit our budget. We even got to drive it back east to visit my mom.
The forth car
was actually supposed to be a purchase. We had to make an unplanned move one
school year, and needed a second car to get around. A friend told me he had
just purchased his dream jeep and had a car, a 1988 Nissan Sentra, which he wasn't driving that we could use. It needed some work, but it ran pretty well.
After a CV axle and a replacement door lock from a junkyard, it was ready to
go. It even had the insurance paid for
the year. At the end of the year when the registration was due, he asked me if
I would like to buy it. He even said I could pay him when I got the money. I changed the registration that summer. On
the first day of school, I noticed a note on my desk. It was from the family
that let us use the car. I taught their children and she was also a faculty
member. Expecting the usual “welcome back” note I was stunned to read these
words:
“Thank you for teaching our children again
this year. They really look forward to your class.
Oh, and by the way, consider the car paid in
full.”
Yes, I cried, and prayed, and
thanked, and drove that car for many years more.
The
fifth car surprised even the giver. Our van (the lemon) was dead. We were
driving all the children to school in the Nissan (loved that car) and then my wife would use the
car if she needed it. My wife was
working for the school also, but at a different campus. One of the other
faculty members had seen the “prayer chain” request for our vehicle needs. They
had a van that none of their children wanted to drive. They wanted to give it
to us, but warned it had a pretty bad oil leak. Being a decent mechanic, I was
up to the challenge. We picked the van up at school. It was nice! We now owned
a 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager Sport. We drove it to show my wife’s parents, and
then home. I would deal with the oil leak later. The next morning I check for
leaks. Nothing was found. This went on for a whole week. Later that week, the
lady who had been so gracious with the car gift, excitedly commented, “So your
husband found the leak”. When my wife said that we were still looking for it,
the lady grew pale. She explained that it would fill the bottom of a small pan
put under the car each evening.
My wife seems to have the best
explanation. It was a “God Gift”. He took what they could give, and fixed it
for us. We have since stopped looking for the leak.
The
Truck
Not
long ago, my daughter was putting to rest her old worn out Toyota. We had
notified our Church’s prayer chain to pray for a car. I too was driving a
little Mitsubishi that was not long for this world. It had a manual
transmission and no one else in my family would drive it. (Frankly, I’m not
sure they knew how.) A dear friend and school parent called me a few days
later. He said that he had a truck for me. He was reading his emails in the
study when he came across the pray chain email. It was then that God put a
thought in his heart. Give that truck to the Cross family. He went into the
living room and told his wife that they needed to talk. She smiled and said, “I
already know. We’re supposed to give the Crosses the truck.” Sure, that happens
every day, right? OK, so I went to look at the truck. I figured it was going to
be a little, semi worn-out, “beater” truck. As I rounded the corner into their
court, I was speechless. It was a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 in great condition with
only 69,000 original miles! To top it off, it had already had its semiannual
smog check. What a blessing it was! I
got to give the Mitsubishi to my neighbor’s brother-in-law and my daughter
found another small car to get her around. I still am amazed when I thing of
all of the undeserved blessings the God has showered on our family. Not long
after, a coworker at my summer job commented on the truck. When I told them the
story, they said, “Wow, now you don’t see that happening very much!” I just
smiled. In our corner of the world, it happens more than you would think…
