Saying Goodbye to Our Car!

Well, not long after my last entry things in our lives got a little nuts! Like I said, Paul has been in school, and thus has no income at all. So we are POOR!! It's not the end of the world and we have been surviving with what we have so far, but we were not planning on any unexpected expenses popping up. We have (had) a green 1996 cavalier, which has been pretty good to us, seeing as we put a lot of kms on it last year driving back and forth to Edmonton every weekend, and sometimes twice a week later in the year. We had a few fixes to do, both of which could have been in the hundreds and or thousands of dollars if Paul did not have the ability to fix them. We also just spent over 300 on a new pair of tires and were hoping to get the other two soon. So we put some money in our car, mostly with the hopes that it would go a little longer and be an investment. We have been talking for a while about getting a new car, closer to when the baby comes or not long after, so that we could have 4 doors and not two and something that is a little more of a family car. We were also thinking that we would sell our other car and get 1500 or 2000 for it to use as a down payment on another car. But most of all we were just talking and were definitely going to wait until our finances were in a better spot and we could take our time and shop around until we got it just right for us. Well, lo and behold Heavenly Father decided that waiting was just not the right way to go. Apparently our green car had to go right now. Paul was driving to school on the morning of the 8th and was passing someone when he lost power and the car just died. He called me (really early mind you, i was sure still sleeping) and said that he was still on the yellowhead but thought he had enough left in the car to make it to school, and if not he would call me. Well, not minutes later my cell phone rang again and sure enough, the engine had seized altogether, and he was dead on the side of the road. Gratefully, Paul's brother Dave was about to leave to go into Edmonton to work and said that he would go take Paul to school. I was pretty stressed out, as i know that we were going to be in trouble without a car. Paul drives between Edmonton and stony plain every day (30 mins each way) plus all of the other driving we do, and we needed to get back to Whitecourt a few times more while Paul is at school. After school, i went to get Paul in Dave and Melanie's van, and we decided that really our only option was to get a new car now. We needed to be able to make payments, not really expensive ones, and we now had no down payment. It was a long night of testing cars, going to different dealerships, and looking at both new and used cars. Eventually, though, we settled on a new 2008 ford focus. It was the best deal for us for several reasons, and we really liked it the best. We are liking it more all of the time and are very grateful for our choice and the guidance we had in that choice. Ford was really accommodating and we were able to drive away with a car that night. We weren't done there, as we had to go back the next day and then the day after that. There ended up being a little trouble with our loan and they told us that we had to come up with a down payment, which was very difficult. But Heavenly Father has continued to bless us and we were able to come up with the needed money without begging or borrowing (yet, at least!!). So far it looks like we will make it alright, even though it will be tight. No extras this month! But thats ok, I will have to wait to get some of the baby things I wanted to buy, and well, lets just say there is no tool fund for Paul this month. Nonetheless, we still feel very blessed. The car that we were hoping to get sometime in the future is now ours and we have thus far been able to afford it. This is not the time I would have picked for Heavenly Father to do things his way, but we are alive and happy, and strong as ever. It has been a challenging but rewarding experience for us, and I don't think either of us would change things now. Goodbye little green car, hello new pretty car!!