Praying for a SAAB?

For the past couple of months, I’ve been thinking about getting a car of my own. Being that I work at a dealership, it’s more of a want than a need. I pay a small amount per week to drive one of the dealership cars. Think about it. The dealership pays for insurance, repairs, etc. It’s the best lease program you could ever imagine. But for someone who enjoys owning and working on his own cars, driving someone else’s isn’t quite as fulfilling. So, you can imagine that I’ve been looking for just the right opportunity to get a car of my own.

Last Friday, someone advertised a free 1988 SAAB 9000 Turbo in the classifieds on www.saabnet.com. After emailing and calling the owner, it sounded like a good deal, but I wasn’t sure it was worth driving six hours one way to Virginia to drive back a car that might have difficulty making it back. It was a free car, right? And free cars usually have problems. According to the owner, this one had some rust on it and occasionally had problems cold starting. I could just imagine myself getting down there and then not being able to start it. What would I do then?

That thought made me wonder if it was even worth pursuing. So, Saturday morning I decided to talk to God about it. Yes, I’m a Christian and I take big and little decisions to God. In just a few words, I pretty much told him that I was done with the free car unless he made it very clear that I should do something. An hour later, I had forgotten about the car. Instead, I was working with a customer who wanted a very specific Volvo. The car was so unique that there was only one in the continental United States that met the desired specifications. Can you guess where it was located? Yep … Virginia.

After agreeing to a dealer trade with the Volvo dealership in Virginia, I called back the man with the free SAAB. “Do you live anywhere near Don Beyer Volvo in Falls Church, Virginia?” As it turned out, the owner lived about 3/4 mile from the dealership! Amazing! I figured that was the answer I had requested. And after securing permission to have the car dropped off at the Volvo dealership, we made arrangements for the car to be shipped on the same truck. And tonight, I’m excited to announce that the car arrived at Leikin Motor Companies in better shape than expected. Hurrah! It may be a few weeks until the Thanksgiving holiday, but I’m thanking God today for working out an answer to my prayer in a way I wouldn’t have thought possible.