It’s time for another Memorial Box story. The Lord has been churning some thoughts around my head about something I need to write about, and this story is kind of a backdrop for that. I will mention this story again when I share what’s on my heart in the days ahead.

This Memorial Box Monday story goes back about 24 years. Tyler was just a baby and we needed a new car. Abi and Dw began to work me over to get a mini-van (“everyone had one”). I wasn’t all that interested, but they eventually wore me down.

We had been saving our money for a new vehicle, as we have tried very hard our entire marriage to stay away from all debt, if possible. For this car purchase we were bound and determined to buy with cash. We set a budget and promised ourselves that we would not break it and take a loan. And then we began the search. We looked at several dealerships but didn’t find “our” van. We kept looking and we were doing lots of praying.
A few weeks passed and one day Dw called me. He had found THE van! It was at a dealership, the van had just come in and he wanted me to come see it right then. I asked him how much it was. He told me the price and it was $3,000. over our budget. Hmmmm. What about the deal to stick to our budget?

He was so excited about this van – it had power windows and power locks (both would be a new treat!). I asked him about the $3000.00 difference and our promise. He said, “But Linny, it’s only $3,000 more! And it has power locks and windows!”

I didn’t say anything more. He knew me well enough to know that I was not very excited about going into debt – power windows and locks or not! But Mr. Dw was so excited that he just didn’t really want to talk about that $3,000 thing. In my heart I was not interested in the van at all. We had had a deal about only spending a certain amount and here he was throwing that deal to the wind. What the heck?

At the same time I am a woman whose heart wants to submit in every area to my husband’s leadership. So what did I do?

I didn’t argue with him. I just said, “Okay, I will come look at it.”

I loaded my little Abigail and baby boy Tyler in the car and drove across town to the car dealership. As I was driving I was pleading with the Lord. I said, “We had a deal. He wants to ditch the deal. God you have to do something!! I don’t know what but I know that you can be the deal-breaker! You don’t want us in debt either! You can do something to block this – do something, anything! Pleeeeease Lord!!!”

I had known the Lord to interrupt our lives with His plan so I knew I could trust Him. I was not going to manipulate or control the decision. Dw, as the head of our home, would make the final decision but in the meantime I would pray like crazy!!

When I got to the dealership he was waiting out front. He was beaming from ear to ear – he was so excited he was almost bouncing. He took me right over to the van. He wanted me to test drive it. (He had already done that before I got there.)

So I got in the front seat and went to move the seat forward so I could reach the pedals, since Dw was the last one driving it, my 6’2” hubby had had that seat waaaay back. Dw came around to help me push the electric buttons to move the seat forward. He was so tickled pushing the button. He moved it forward. Surprisingly, my feet did not reach. He tried to lower the seat. Again, my feet did not reach. The salesman came over. My feet weren’t almost to the pedal, they were clearly a foot away from it. Literally.

Dw said, “Hey, how do you move the seat more forward?” The guy showed him the same buttons we had already been pushing. We were doing it right. BUT my right foot would not reach the pedals. No kidding. It wasn’t like a stretch nor were they “almost” there. My foot would not reach for anything. My legs were just dangling off the seat.

Here these two guys were, my sweet hubby and this salesman leaning over trying, pushing, wiggling all to get that seat to move forward more. Nada. Nothing. Not even close.

The salesman had me get out. He climbed in. He tried moving the seat closer, up, down, over….anything to get closer to that gas pedal. He started mumbling under his breath something like this: “This has never happened before. It’s a standard van and standard pedals. Your wife is short, but she’s not that short. This seat should be able to reach. Someone test drove it yesterday and they didn’t have a problem with the seat reaching.”

And honestly, I was trying so hard not to cover my elation. I was almost laughing outloud. (I was now the one beaming from ear to ear! *haha*)

After probably 15 minutes of trying to get the seat close enough that my feet would reach the pedals they both gave up. There was no way we could buy that van when I could not reach. Dw just said, “That is so weird. I guess we have to keep looking.” Ya think?

As I drove home with my sweet kiddos I was just laughing and praising the Lord! I have no doubt that if a little teeny, tiny person had come to buy that van 2 minutes after we left their legs/feet would have reached just fine. I am convinced that God did something just for us and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

He is the God who can make seats not reach gas and brake pedals so people don’t go into debt that they really don’t need! He is the God that heard my cries to block it even though I was submitting to my husband’s call to come look. He is the God of the impossible – He is my Miracle-working, Mountain-moving, Awe-inspiring, Gasp-giving God and He alone is worthy to be praised!! (There will be a tiny van in our Memorial Box to symbolize this awesome story!)

What about you? Has God ever blocked something for you? Has He ever lengthened vans or shortened pedals for you? What has He done for you? Do tell us! Please link your Memorial Box post on MckLinky so that everyone can read your story as well…it will encourage everyone!And please feel free to use the Memorial Box button…

Please comment that you have written a Memorial Box Monday post so I can stop by and I will highlight them…

If you don’t know what exactly all this stuff is about the Memorial Box, it is explained here.

And since it is a long holiday week-end, I am going to do the Memorial Box Giveaway on Wednesday. I guess that means its not too late to join in the giveaway fun….for details,

click here.