My other Ride...

When the wife and I got engaged I had two trucks... and she had a sweet little red crx. The crx was the first to go and I just didn't feel good about her looking through the steering wheel of a 1987 Toyota with a bench seat and no steering column adjustment. The Toyota got swapped for sweet crx #2, complete with Krylon painted custom hood. When crx #2 died...it was pretty serious. We were a one truck family, which was ok until kiddo #2 showed up. We had a somewhat less than desirable experience with an '88 Olds Eighty Eight before we acquired a KIA Sephia, the finest car Korea made at that time. Once again we were an average American two car family. Finally, the truck went to rest atop Hillside Auto Salvage's Truck Hill and we were back to being a one car family. Then the bunny rabbits ate the KIA (true story) and we were in a bad spot. Sharing one car is tough but not having one is worse. He quickly bought an over priced, previously owned Ford Windstar. The wife loves it! still! One car's not bad, especially when it's a dual sliding door mini van that seats seven. You just feel weird going somewhere by yourself. When me moved to AZ, I became the proud owner of not one but two mini vans. What could make you feel more manly eh? Next, the tranny goes out on previously mentioned financed but no longer under warranty mini-van. We sold the older van to fix the newer van. It felt a little bit like selling your car for gas money but it worked. Now we were back to being a one mini-van family. This was great until #1 kiddo started school. The first day I was late from work, making him late to school was one of the biggest parental failings ever. Seriously, its kindergarten, and I don't think he cares but still. Education is important. I began praying for a second vehicle. I was exploring all the realistic options... begging for my mom's 1996 Nissan Sentra or buying someone else's almost dead junk off craigslist. None of these seemed best and then I got all spiritual and concerned. What about the environment? What about fighting the Accumulation Narrative? What about the fact that I'm broke. I prayed some more. I was patient. God was gracious. Now I'm a daily car-pooler. My car pool buddy drives a sweet Mazda three that gets like 37 mpg. Can you say zoom zoom? I pay him $20 a week and we are both thrilled. There's also some added safety in driving in pairs at 2:00 AM. (it's less likely we'd both fall asleep). We use less fuel. We pollute less. We get to use the HOV lane. We are becoming invested in each other's lives and I get to avoid that weird feeling of "Yes, I'm the only one in this large vehicle that seats seven." We may be a two car household again one day, but for now I am thankful and content with God's gracious provision. This living in community thing takes practice, but I feel like I'm getting better.