Newest Member of our Family, 64 VW Bug

We purchased a 64 VW Bug about 2 months back and this weekend I finally got to take it for several spins. I have to say that of all the VW models the bug is my all time favorite. The very first car I ever owned was a 69 VW Bug and so of course they are near and dear to my heart. I just fit so well in a Bug and it feels as though you are driving in the road rather than on it, kinda like a canoe in water. I haven't named him yet but when I do you will be the first to know. I am pretty sure that he is going to be root beer brown though my all time favorite color for bugs is red. I have saved that color for my dream car which would be a convertible VW Bug at least about 65 or older. Anyway when I post some picks you all can put in your 2cents worth for names the guy until then you will hear us coming.

These are a few of my favorite things.....

When the bugs RED, When the love flows, When the friends are great..... I simply remember my favorite things , and then I don't feel so bad.

Surprise!!!

Today was full of surprises. Not only did I find out that my financial aid did come through for my classes in time for me to still be enrolled in school this semester, but then my darling hubby brought home the long awaited Ford Expedition that has been gone from sight for 8 very long months .Wow, what a treat!! Two big surprises in one day not sure I can handle all this good change. Yeah, ya, I think I can... I think I can..... I think I can. Changes good or bad are still tough for me but these kinds of changes I think I could get used to.Now back to my online classes.

Remaining Grateful

Today as I was done dropping kids off at school I was thinking about the fact that in about a week I should be driving my Ford Expedtion again(thanks to my amazing hubby and his generous parents). Anyway, I started to imagine for the first time the warmth, size and comforts of this modern car. I know that after some time has gone by all the luxuries will soon wear of , the kids will have made it their own, and I won't be as grateful to drive this car as I will be in a few days.
This same thought or feeling occurs often times when you go away from your home for a few days. You come home and have fresh eyes to look around the place or when your spouse or family member has been gone for a few days , weeks or even months. You have a new appreciation for something or someone that you might otherwise take for granted. It is something that is also talked about a great deal in a new book that I just read , "Living the Resurrection" by Eugene H. Peterson. In this book he talks about how we can try to cultivate the amazement and wonder that the disciples had upon seeing Jesus alive again after they had just seen Him crucified. He talks about how children are one of the greatest cultivators for wonder and amazement because they literally do see everything with fresh eyes and a completely new perspective. I am sure this is one of the reasons that Jesus said we must have a childlike faith. I started thinking about how often I have taken for granted my beautiful relationship that I have with Jesus and how I don't want that to become the norm.
My thought is how do we continue to keep looking at life in this way when the mundane of day to day comes everyday and takes over. I really don't know that we can except to make a commitment to not allow the mundane to take over and to pray that God change our heart and attitude about what we might otherwise take for granted.

Today

Last night my car broke down for the second time this week. First, it was at the bug rally that I have been anticipating since ...well, for a while and then last night after youth group.
On Saturday during the scavenger hunt/rally we were 3 away from finishing our hunt and it broke. We were stuck. Again. With no cell phone. After being passed by the police officer(hello, here to protect AND serve) we had safely been given a ride to 7 /11 from a kind stranger to make a phone call for a ride. When we were sitting outside waiting on our ride, with slurpies in hand(all 6 of us) I said to the Scofield clan, " So, the lesson in all this is to be able to thank God in all things." After I said it I could hardly think at that very hot, sweaty moment what to thank God for myself when one of my kids said , "Well, our slurpies" then another "The nice lady who gave us a ride" and so on...
In that moment I realized that if I would have taken the opposite route , different train, bandwagon , whatever you want to call it , if I would have started grumbling, crying , getting angry the lesson here for my kids would have been oh so different. I only know of these other routes because they are the ones that I am used to traveling on. That day was a different day. Thanks be to God.

So, back to last night as my car was packed to the gills with people, my clan +1 (don't ask how that's possible cause legally it is not) and as my car had literally jerked me off to the side of the road. As I am sitting there thinking "not again" and " I am so stinking tired of this " Jesus reminded me by way of my children , "Well , at least we have the cell phone this time Mom."
God is good. Because that was something to be oh so grateful for. Not only that but so much more.
Today I am refusing to let the negative thoughts stick around. Today I am looking for (and it's not very hard to find them) all the blessings that God has abundantly given me and my family. I am truly thankful that at least I have cars that need to be fixed . That's a good problem to have in a sense because, at least I have more than one or even two cars.
God thank you for who YOU are . For how faithful you remain always. For my husband, family, friends, health, cars, house, my swamp cooler, my bible, Joyce Meyers, Joni Locke, my computer, bloggin, beautiful scenery(b.m.people included) sweet smells, coffee, food, ice cold water, clean water, etc.........................................................
"I have a thankful heart and it's because of you" this is the chorus to an old Petra song I believe and the truth is in the end of that statement.

My Dream Car

My dream car is for sale. Only a mere $14,000 and not too far away.

Someday. Until then I get to keep dreaming.

The happy ending(part 3 of the FORD saga)

First, I must start this blog by saying that my husband is amazing. Truly , I believe he is a genius and a rather hot one at that. Now back to my story, it was starting to get dark and so being the genius , amazing man that he is he told everyone to look in the car for something long and straight to pry open the window on gramma's van. After no luck in our search inside the car we then looked outside the car for any stick on the roadway and finally on the car seemed the ONLY answer, our antenna. Now, I don't know about other people but this is what amazes me about my husband because I would have never thought that a car antenna and a little girls shoe could unlock a car door but apparently it does. So 45minutes later we were back in business and able to call on the wonderful piece technology that we had longed for all day. Thank God for cell phones.
The car ride home I sat on the floor in the back with the kids and thought a lot about the days events. I was feeling pretty down and I had wished for somebody, anybody to yell , scream, or holler at me but no such luck. The people in my family are just all too kind.
I woke up the next day and still felt like crying. It wasn't until spending some alone time with Jesus that I felt much better. He taught me some things that I needed to learn in the best possible way and said the words I needed to hear. His kids helped a lot in this as well.

Now here comes the happy ending. A few days before all of this had taken place I had told Moses that I thought we should just give the Ford away or park it for a while and get me a vw squareback(station wagon) . To save money on gas was my primary reason but also,I have never felt better in a vehicle than when I am in a vw . Something about them is just a comfort to me. Anyhew, he thought that would be fun to look into and then all of the stuff with the Ford took place and we really needed to find something else. Instead of just a want it became a need. We did have the camper(which btw fits us all just fine and up until just 2 weeks ago was out of commission) but I am not really good at driving that because of the reach factor. I can do it , it's just not easy for me. Then our bug was not running because Mo pillaged parts from it to get the bus running. So, we went to Bug O Rama this year hoping to get parts to get the bug running again and for some much needed R&R. Before the trip had even got under way Moses met a couple who came to the parking lot where our VW club(Slogoinvws) was meeting in Carson City. They weren't in a VW and so Mo wandered over to say hello and maybe he thought answer some questions they might have. Turns out that they had a friend who had a squareback in his garage for over 8+ years and he was looking to sell it for a very low price. Moses didn't get to overly excited but he did think it was interesting that out of all the people there he was the one who got the number.
We got home from our wonderful weekend in Sacramento(Just what the doctor ordered) and gave the guy a call. Sure enough it was the gem we were hoping for. As the guy rolled her dust covered body out of the barn I was given a name for this car , Grace. This car is a sign to me of God's continual hand of grace on my life. Even though I screwed up, even though I feel I should be punished for my stupid oversight God is gracious to me.

Part 2 of I don't know yet(Continued FORD saga)

My heart sank and I began to feel sick to my stomach. Mo prompted me to try the engine a few more times but this time it just clicked when I turned the key so they thought maybe it might be the battery. The police officer hooked up his battery jumper cables and still nothing. Moses came over to tell me that the engine was "blowed up", done, ca-put, gonzo. I sat there shocked. Surely, something could be done. At this point I was really feeling ill but had to make a decision as to who to call to come to our rescue and decided that my mom's house would be the best bet because someone is always home. The police officer kindly let me use his cell phone to make this call and thankfully my sister was home . After describing where we were, that she would need to bring mom's van because there would be so many for the car ride home, and that we didn't have our cell so she would just have to keep her eyes wide open for us she said she was on her way.
The police man needing to get back on the road after helping us for the last 2 hours said he would be by later to check on us. He drove off and there we all sat and sat and sat. There was of course the occasional bathroom break behind the protection of our vehicle and I did get out and try to wave down a cell phone to call Louie and Joni to inform them that we wouldn't be there but other than that we sat. It was almost getting to be dark when I saw our beloved rescuers on the other side of the road , honking , waving , and smiling. They pulled up behind us and jumped out of the car in such a hurry that they locked themselves out of their very own car with the engine still running!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
All I could do was laugh because I had been crying all afternoon and thier just wasn't a drop left.

Where to start?? The FORD saga

What a turn of events that has occured in my life in just the last week. I don't even know where to begin.
Maybe I should go back to a week ago today I was enjoying the tail end of the visit with Moses mom Nashelle and we were driving them into Sacremento where thier plane was to fly out the next day. We said our goodbyes and were headed straight for church to drop Mo off to work. We had just left the gas station and were on the road for about 2o minutes when the Ford started to make some funny noises. Moses told be to pull over to the side of the road and it was a good thing that he did because our engine was just about ready to blow up right there on the the freeway. He popped the hood and the kids and I figured no big deal , Mo is such a mechanical genieus we should be on the road in no time. Much to my dismay this was not the case. Someone had forgotten to put oil in the car(the guilty party shall remain anonymous NOEL) and it was bone dry. OUCH!! Well, I thought good thing we caught it in time but now what? Mo had forgotten his cell phone and wallet and I was glad at least that we had my debit card to go get some oil but it would be on foot and we didnt' know how far so Mo suggested(being the wonderful husband that he is) that he go with my card and hope that they didn't i.d. him. So off he went, while we (me and munchins) sat and sat and sat. One half hour later we saw him going down the other side of the freeway. The kids were happy to see him and so was I but I also realized that this meant that he was headed the other way to find a gas station and who knew how far away the closest one was. So we sat, and sat, and sat. About almost 2 hours after seeing Moses a police officer pulled up behind us. With tears in my eyes I rolled down the window and told him our scenario and he said , "Well, I will go find him and we will be back in a bit" Again, we sat and sat and sat and about 45minutes after he left ,Moses and him pulled up with the oil in hand and popped the hood to fix all the problems. Yipee!!!
The engine turned over and was running for about 45 seconds when it slowly died. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
(to be continued)
I promise a happy ending is in sight.