The Lord Provides

I've needed a new vehicle since August 2010 and I have had very specific requirements for my new vehicle, this was the list:

full size pick up
short box
split bench front seat
cloth interior
standard transmission
cruise control
less than 200,000 kms

All that for $5000 - $6000

There was much looking at many, many trucks and much debate over each requirement.  What I really want is a magical truck that is a small pick up on the outside, but a full size truck on the inside.  After crawling through several small and several large trucks I decided that I preferred the large truck.  It had to have cloth seats, Sister's car has leather and I've driven Johnny in both the summer and the winter and leather is either way too cold or way too hot.  I test drove an automatic and almost had a panic attack with nothing to do while driving, so I had my little heart set on a manual transmission.  Very hard to find!  I need cruise control especially for long trips, I have a terrible lead foot, but I hate to speed.

The truck I bought we looked at 3 different times.  The first time Dad and Mom looked at it in September while I was away at the FireFit event in Brampton, ON.  We liked the truck and they were asking $8000 which was reasonable for the condition the truck was in but it was more than I wanted to pay.  It was back on craigslist in February for $7300, Dad and I went to take a look at it, on the nastiest snowy night of the year, we still liked it so I put and offer of $6500 and would have been willing to go to $6800.  God stepped in here, they said no to the $6500 and said someone else had offered $7000, I responded that I was happy for them and to let me know if their offer of $7000 fell through and they wanted to let it go for $6500.  I didn't hear back, and assumed they'd sold.  Then in June on my first craigslist visit in 2 months there was my truck and they were asking $6500, I waited a few days then offered $6000, they came back with an email saying I'd offered $6500 for it in February.  Yes, I had but after more truck shopping thought $6000 was a reasonable offer, we settled on $6250.

I had asked at the beginning of my search that God lead me in finding a truck.  I needed his guidance to be the best possible steward of the monetary resources He has given me.  I know that it was God's hand in my life that I did not purchase it in September for $8000, that they did not accept my offer of $6500 in February, I've saved $1750 on this truck by waiting and trusting in the Lord to guide my footsteps.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.  Psalms 37:4-6