OMG y'all. I gotta tell you about how blessed I am.

You see, I have this car. It’s a 1996 Lincoln Continental, and it runs well and has A/C and gets me from Point A to Point B so I’ve been trying to be grateful for it. Trying. Because it leaks terribly during rainstorms (of which we’ve had a LOT this summer) and two of the windows don’t work (which means I can’t air it out after a rain so it smells like mildew for days) and it requires premium gas (of course it does, it was built when premium gas was less than $1 a gallon) and all of those things make it difficult for me to have warm feelings about this car. Oh, and the driver’s side rear door doesn’t work, which means the whole time my stepson was in town he had to crawl over Garrett’s car seat to get into the car. Which is inconvenient but not insurmountable… but I keep thinking about how we’re going to have another car seat to contend with in early 2013, and it’s likely my stepson will be staying with us for a longer time frame next summer, and well…

We need a new car.

Right now, we just DO NOT have room in the budget for a monthly car payment, so I had just resigned myself to the fact that over the next six months or so we’re going to have to figure out some way to save some money so we can pay cash for a new-to-us car. Nothing big and fancy, just something that can hold two car seats and an eight-year-old, something with four doors and windows that work, something that doesn’t leak like a screen door on a submarine. And until we get that straightened out, I’m just going to be glad that I HAVE a car so I can get to work every day, and honestly, it was free at a time when we really needed some wheels so I’m just not going to complain, okay? I just laugh at how awful it is and try look on the bright side.

So then last Friday I have this text exchange with my mom:

Yes, I called God a slacker. I play fast and loose with the blasphemy.

Then a few minutes later:

In case you can’t tell from my gratuitous use of multiple question marks, I was a little blown away.

It may not be a swagger wagon, but I think it’s pretty damn nifty! I mean, all the doors and windows work and it doesn’t leak (and therefore is unlikely to be infested with black mold, as my paranoid brain is convinced my current vehicle is). It can fit two car seats + an 8-year-old + two adults + a ton of groceries or luggage or whatever else we need to lug around. And it’s a gift. A wonderful, awesome, completely unexpected gift that had me all stunned and sniffly for a couple of hours last week.

Is is just me, or does the color of this car say, “Big Pimpin?” BTW, the silver bug that’s parked next to it used to be mine, but now it’s my younger brother’s. I loved that car, but unfortunately it’s not conducive to the transport of small children and their various accoutrements.

Sometimes, I am humbled by how good God is to me, especially when I least deserve it.