Alejandro

We experienced a deep sadness this week. Our faithful mini-van that has served us day and night without fail for over 3 years died without warning. I drove it to Omaha and all over Fremont on Sunday without so much as a hiccup, but Monday morning when Trina tried to go to school it did not make it two miles. The transmission just gave up the ghost.

Of course, we were all sad about the van, but mostly wondered what we were going to do. It was one thing to be down to one vehicle after the truck died, but being down to the Blazer which currently only has two seats was not going to work. That first morning we all prayed in Bible Study that God would provide, and I for one sat back to see what he was going to do. A new transmission cost about as much as a different car, so we got on Craigslist. Dad prayed that God would open the right doors and close the wrong ones, and after several closed doors he and I found ourselves on our way to Fremont to look at a Mercury Sable which was right in our price range. I told Dad if we got it, I was going to name it something having to do with Alan Jackson, the man responsible for my respect for Mercurys....

It was super clean and nice and I fell in love at first sight. The previous owners were a very sweet Hispanic family, only one of whom spoke English well enough to communicate with us. She translated all of her Dad's opinions about the car, which served to confirm what we were already thinking, this was the right open door. We made a hasty transaction in the parking lot of Walmart (which, I might add, was frigid beyond belief) and I got in the drivers seat heading for home.

Ten seconds behind the wheel and I knew it was not a "Jackson" or an "Alan". Alejandro just seemed perfect. The kids put up a little fuss about it being named that, but I explained that because its previous owner only spoke Spanish, he was a bilingual vehicle and should be honored as such.

Dad got it all registered and everything yesterday and he has begun his faithful service to the Hipps.

The thing I was most impressed by in the frigid Walmart parking lot was the size of the trunk. I have never seen any trunk this big before. I got Rosie to come out and model just how big it was, but she looked so small in there, I had an idea...

Kids, don't try this at home! I think Leah and I could easily fit in there together! My first thought when I saw it was, "Now this is a trunk that can haul the amount of groceries I buy!!" Thank you, Lord, for your timely provision, and that you even gave us a car with a really cool trunk!! :D