Myrtle II A Curse Or A Blessing

Its interesting that after a life time of hard work that we ended up with "Myrtle II". Myrtle I was a cheap Ford 4X4 that we bought from a friend to help her out.  We used her for a while and ended up selling her to someone who thought they might try to love her.  I think they actually wanted her for parts. We didn't miss her or look back after dropping her off.

Throughout our married life we have owned lots of used cars. All the cars were decent looking and we took care of them.  When we had put in our time, so to speak, we finally bought a new car.  Wow!  We finally made it.  It was fun to ride aroudn in a new smelling car that had no dents, scratches, or rust. After three years we traded her in for another new car. That lasted about 5 years.  Then Don decided to take a Crown Financial Ministries class and was convicted that we needed to get out of debt.  Our car was paid for so it was helpful in that decision. Until......

We owned a Dodge Intrepid.  On Poncha Pass she decided to blow the engine.  Of course, this had to happen after we had put a new timing chain, new tires, and a full tank of gas in her.  It would have cost more than the car was worth to do the engine so we sold her for scrap.  Sigh.  Now what? 

We found a Jeep Grande Cherokee that was in excellent condition.  Pretty goldish color, leather seats, CD player, electric seats with seat warmers, and electronic doo-dads that are cool to play with. The price was within our budget so we bought her.  A year later we did tranny work, new tires, air conditioning work, and a few other things.  She runs pretty good now.  So what is the problem?  

 We can't drive her.  Our son-in-law took her to Montana because his car broke down on their move and was in the shop in Alamosa. He needed to get to a job interview in Montana. Their car was still in the shop when he left.  Now we have Callie's car but I can't drive it because she needs it to haul her girls around. We bought a 1992 Suburban to haul kids around in for $3,000 because at the time we were planning a big family trip to California. It is in the shop getting "fixed up to drive".  So what do I get to drive?

Myrtle II was given to us by Denice and Greg when they moved here from Placerville.  "Given!"  That means she ain't worth the green paper the title is printed on.  O, she runs okay.  She is a 1991 Dodge Dakota  standard drive pickup.  Her skirts are torn and rusty.  The handle on the inside driver's door is falling off. The windshield has a huge crack. The air conditioner doesn't work. Plus, the birds like to use her for target practice and the wipers don't work.  She is one sad specimen. But she was FREE!  I prayed, "God, don't make me have to drive that truck!"

Now I have to tell you that she is almost an embarrassment to ride in.  Sometimes she doesn't like the way I shift her gears.  But she keeps on truckin". She is the vehicle that I am left with.  Today I started to complain about why, of all the vehicles I could be driving, I was stuck with her. Don and I worked really hard all our lives to make money to drive a decent car among other things.  How is it that everyone else gets to drive our cars but us? I stopped short in my thought.  Suddenly I felt that she was a blessing. She helped me get to the hospital to visit my husband who had emergency surgery. Without her it would have been difficult to get here. (I'm writing from the hospital room....Don is doing better and sleeping.) And the kids needed vehicles to get on with what they had to do. God was providing for all of us.

I can't complain even though I don't have a new car to ride in.  I don't have a car payment and I can still get to where I need to go.  God promised to take care of my needs so, "Thanks God.  I appreciate Myrtle II very much. I just hope that as I slip into rusty skirts, cracked windshields, and sagging handles that I can be a blessing to someone who may need me to get from here to there.