One of the oddities of our family is that we name our vehicles. Our family car is a reliable Honda Odyssey I named Penelope (points if you get the literary reference).
We call her Penny for short. She has gone on many trips, suffered some minor bumps and bruises, and collected more coloring papers than I care to discuss.
Like all vehicles she needed to be maintained. Sometimes it was minor (oil change) sometime major (new transmission) but we did what we could to keep her running well. Lately, though, she has needed some extra care. In fact, after starting at TECH Team, the list seemed to multiply. Mostly minor things, but it seemed every month something needed fixing. But we were so blessed. A wonderful co-worker named Charles helped to fix Penny and keep her running for only the cost of parts.
Then in early March, Penny lost air conditioning. The first fix was not successful. The weather was pretty chilly still so it wasn't immediately important to fix. We traveled north and only one day of the whole trip was uncomfortable. Around town, we were able to drive with the front windows down and that was pleasant enough. In the meantime, Eric and Charles tested and tried several solutions. Some worked for a short while but then the AC failed again. After the new compressor failed, a true fix was beginning look too
expensive.
Then it started to get really warm. Temperatures were in the low 90s and since the only windows that opened were in the very front, the kids- especially Ranen- were overheating. Penny was running really well but it was too hot for the kids to ride in safely for any length of time. Then we found out that Charles was going to be taking on more responsibility and was not going to be able to work on personal vehicles. I knew in my head that God was in control but I just couldn't see how He would provide. All the normal things I would rely on had failed and we were stuck. I found myself praying a lot while driving as the days grew warmer and warmer.
And my heart turned again towards God. I knew I didn't have to understand how He would provide, only that God is faithful...
