I was broke after buying this car and I was in need of gas. I didn't realize that the car was halfway to empty until I left the dealer ship. It behooves me how you can plop down thousands of dollars but they can't afford to fill the car up. At any rate I can't be too mad with them cause I should have caught it. At any rate so the closer I get to my house the lower the tank gets. So for the past few days I'd hussled every penny and dime I could. I'd spent my last little bit trying to fix the flat tire on my other car and I managed to get $5 to put into my new car. Well as everyone knows $5 doesn't get you much. In fact it got me two gallons of gas. But I'm still on "E".

Well Saturday evenings I go to church. The church services is held about 15 miles from my house and I knew that two gallons would be gone on the ride out there. So, I have a dilemma. Do I not go to church because If I do then I won't have any gas for the rest of the week? Or do I go and trust that God will make a way? So this morning I prayed for a while. I really wanted to go to church but I didn't not want to have any gas to get to work. I find it interesting that people will make a way to get to work but when it comes to God they cut corners. Then we wonder why when we need something from God he doesn't show up for us. I know my job is not more important than my faith so I resolved to go to church and see how the gas thing goes. I remember thinking that it would be nice to go to church and after have God speak a word to someone to bless me with $20 so I could get some gas.

As I was praying my Spirit started ministering to me about my pride. I received a word to call someone to borrow $20 dollars until Friday. So I get up the nerve to call a friend. I asked for $10 and she said that she had it. So I get in my car head over to her house and she hands me a sandwhich and two oranges along with an envelope. She said that she didn't have $10 and wanted to know if $20 would work. I told her it would and thanked her profusely. She looked at my car and said that we could still name it "Sugar". That was the name she'd given the Kia that I had. It was white in color my the Hyundai is blue. I told her that I'd been calling it "God's Gift".

As I left, I was feeling pretty good and on my way to church. I wasn't expecting anything but to hear a good word, which I got. After church I talked to some people on my way out. When I got outside there was a lady and her son standing outside of the church. I looked over and told them to have a blessed week and she walked over to me to give me a hug but then she slipped something that felt like paper in my hand. We continued talking about the goodness of God and Jesus being the reason for the season. No word was mentioned about what she'd given me although I knew what it was. I got in the car and looked at my palm and there lay a folded $20 bill. I had to praise the Lord. I hadn't spoken my need to anyone but God and the friend I'd called earlier. I knew that God must have placed it on her heart to approach me. It just amazes me how faithful God can be and I'm grateful that there are still people who hear God and are obedient to His word.

Every once in a while I have a day that tries my nerves and my faith like no other day. Well, today was one of those days. I've often heard it said that when you follow the Lord things don't get easier and I'm learning they don't. My day started off with me taking back the Kia I bought a few weeks ago. The loan I used to finance the car had certain requirements that the Kia didn't fit. The solution, the dealer had to put me in a bigger, more expensive car. It's a 2004 Hyundai Sonata. I wanted a Toyota Corolla but somehow I ended up with the Sonata. The issue with this current arrangement is the payments stay about the same as the Kia but the loan term is longer and my car insurance goes up.

After dealing with the car, I've got some other things to take care of. Stuff like the cell phone bill I can't pay trying to buy a car, the gas I need to put in my "new" car, donating my old car and working on a project for one of my classes that should have been done before today. But that's life right?

So I get home and call the Kidney Foundation so that I can donate my car. I forgot to mention to you all that about a week ago one of the tires on my old car went flat. The lady helping me at the Kidney Foundation asks if there are any flat tires or broken windows. Of course she's going to ask that. So I tell her about the tire and she says that I need to get that taken care of before they can tow it. I'm thinking I really don't want to put any more money into this car.  I tell her I'm going to take care of it. After getting off the phone I start reading a notice that was left inside my door. And what do you know? The notice is from the property management saying that there's a tan Volvo parked in the parking lot with a flat tire that was cited on 09/07/2005 (I'm assuming they meant 12/07/2005) and it would be towed on Friday, December 19, 2005 (I'm assuming that's a typo too since the 19th is a Monday) if the tire isn't fixed and the car doesn't move. What's really jacked up about this is that they put this notice in every tenants door. There's only eight units so it's not too bad but everyone here knows it's my car. So I go by the office to talk to the guy and leave my info for him to call me back. But at the office one of the administrators suggested that I try getting a product called "Fix-A-Flat". It comes in a can and it's supposed to coat the inside of the tire. So I go buy a can for about $5.00 (my last) and does it work. Let's just say it didn't for me but it's still a cool concept. So, the guy calls me back and I explain the situation. He agrees (albeit reluctantly) to give me another week to take care of the issue.

After that fire gets put out, I still have to deal with my class project. Which to my knowledge is still incomplete. Everytime I turn around I'm getting an an email from my group mates telling me "you haven't done this" or "you haven't done that" or "this doesn't work" etc, etc... They're so concerned with what I need to do that they don't realize that their stuff isn't perfect either. They're emailing me about things that in the big scheme of the project doesn't matter. But all of that got me to thinking.

Why is it that we never focus on the good. Why is it that when people do things right we don't acknowledge it. Or whenever we are facing serious obstacles we focus on the bad. The same goes for faith. God has been more than gracious to me. I have everything I need. I may not have everything I want but I have all that I need. But the minute problems occur I forget about the good God has done and continues to do for me. He didn't have to do it. I start focusing on the problem and asking God why is all this happening? But I remember a verse of scripture that says trials and tribulations come to make us strong so count it all joy. Or something like that...

Well, what can I say? God made a way! On Friday December 2, 2005 (my brother and nephew's b-day), I was blessed to buy another car. It's a 2001 Kia Rio. Nothing fancy, but it feels nice to drive a car that if something happens to it over the next few years, I know it's covered. Although I have a car note now the car is still afforadable enough for me to make the payments fairly comfortably.

I thought I'd share that praise report just in case there's someone else who needs to know that God is still in the blessing business. He never left...