Perry, Georgia

We didn't ask people for it.
We didn't pursue it.
We didn't publicize our need for it.

But...we did pray for it.

And so it now sits, in Perry, Georgia, in the parking lot of some hotel.

From my understanding, this all started with a prayer in a park. Autumn Kennedy of Lakeland, Florida, was praying about Myla's situation when she felt the Lord's leading to help us meet a major need in our lives. I had never met Autumn. And aside from the occasional "most wanted" flyers posted by the Polk County Sheriff's Department, she had probably never heard of us. But after hearing about Myla's situation through Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lakeland--the church I attended while growing up--she wanted to help.

So, she called her husband, Chad, to see what he thought about her idea.

He thought it was great.

So, there it sits, in Perry, Georgia, in the parking lot of some hotel.

With the traveling we have to do, a newer and more dependable car would have met a major need. Our two cars are 15 and 21 years old, and we've been nursing them along for quite some time. They've been perfect for my 1o-minute commutes about town, but for longer trips, we had concerns. I usually rented a car for making trips to Indy.

So, we prayed, and shared our need for a better car to a few family members and a couple of close friends, but that was it. In the meantime, our transportation needs were being met by the generous gas cards from our church and other friends, so we were content. I told Melissa, "It would be great if we could just keep driving these cars into the ground." And as Melissa would tell you, I've been saying that for years.

To make a long story short, Chad and Autumn gave us their 1997 Volvo 850 station wagon! And so it sits, 694 miles away from us in Perry, Georgia, in the parking lot of some hotel.

But last week, it sat 1,065 miles away from us.

That was a problem.

After the Kennedys' made their generous offer, I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't take time away from Myla to fly down and drive the car back. So, we did nothing, except for pray. I figured that if God wanted us to have this car, then He would also find a way to get it up here. I had told Melissa repeatedly that the last thing we would want is to come across as opportunistic regarding any aspect of Myla's condition. I told her that if God wanted us to have another car, then He would have to push it on us, and this involved solving the transportation problem.

Last week, my former college roommate, Mike, called to share that God was about to do just that. I had told him about the Kennedy's offer at some point, but then didn't think much else about it. As it turns out, Mike's parents, Winston and Doris Sears, haul recreational trailers from Indiana to various destinations across the country. Mike shared our situation with them, and they jumped at the idea to request a delivery to Florida just so that they could haul the Kennedys' car up here to Indiana. Wow! Isn't that amazing? I had expected this to take a few weeks, but they were on the road within a couple of days.

This has been a tremendous blessing. I'm delighted to receive this generous gift, but I'm almost as excited to see such a concrete example of God using people who are sensitive to His voice to meet the needs of other members in the body of Christ. In the book of Ephesians in the New Testament of the Bible, there is a verse that talks about the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. I'm convinced that this is one of those works that was planned from eternity past, and from my vantage point, it was fun to watch such a clear example of God's unfolding providence. I'm also humbled.

So tonight, I want to send a special thank you to the Kennedys, the Sears, and my friend Mike for the car that now sits in Perry, Georgia, in the parking lot of some hotel.

But just for tonight.