I was now employed, but transportation was becoming quite a problem. "Red Fred", my Mom's little car that she let me use, while she took the bus, finally had enough, and totally died on me. My Uncle found me a car to drive, but that one didn't last very long either. I would take it somewhere and it would refuse to back up among other things. It was just not going to work at all!
I was hired at the small mattress factory because two women had gotten into a fight and one had walked off the job. The one who had walked out was allowed to keep working there however, and was not the easiest person for anyone to get along with. She was good friends with a guy who also worked there and he had a car he wanted to sell for two hundred dollars.
This car was an old Oldsmobile 88. It was white and had so much rust on it, people used to say it looked like it had cancer! It had a red, beat up vinyl top, but the interior was immaculate...a very plush red fabric and so clean! I thought this would be a great car for me and the price was right if I could just scrape up the money somehow.
Well, I prayed about it and did manage to get the money and this man agreed to sell it to me. Unfortunately, at the last minute, he told me that this woman decided that SHE wanted it so he was going to sell it to her instead! I was heartbroken because I was so sure that car was meant for me. I was crying and talking to a friend of mine about it and I remember telling him that it must not be God's will for me to have it. This wise friend said, " Wait a minute...maybe it IS meant for you. Let's pray about it." and so we did.
The next day, the guy had a change of heart and decided to sell it to me after all! I drove that ugly, old car for many years! I never once changed the oil in it... I didn't know you had to, and it never lost a drop! How funny is that?! The guy who sold it to me quit working at the mattress factory shortly after he sold me the car. A few years later, he could not believe it when he saw me and I was still driving it.
Why am I telling you this, you are probably wondering? Well, a couple of years before my Dad passed away, he had a botched operation and was in the hospital for a very long time. He was unable to swallow or eat and was very confused. I would go and stay with him at all hours of the day and night, praying for him as I watched him suffer. It was early in the morning, still dark out, and I was driving to the hospital to see him before going to work. I thought things were looking very bad and began to get discouraged. This cold, dark morning, I began to wonder if it was God's will for him to make it. All of a sudden, I remembered that old car and how it didn't LOOK like it was God's will for me to have it, but it really WAS after all. I had not thought about this in years and I knew the Holy Spirit was encouraging me and speaking to my heart, so I held on to this hope and kept on praying. When I was told my Dad would never swallow or eat normally again, I could boldly tell them that I walked by faith and not by sight!!!
You see, when God shows you something, you can bet it's going to happen and happen it did! My Dad swallowed again and began to eat. He went into a nursing home and then back to his own home, where he lived until just before the very end of his life.
I used to sing a song that said, "Down the road, a little bit farther, we shall all understand". I have found this to be true and as I look back, there have been many things I have not understood at the time, and I have often wondered "why?". As time has gone on, I can see how they have prepared me for my future in ways that only my Heavenly Father could have orchestrated! I'm sure you have seen this in your own life too, if you think about it!
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