The Lincoln

Today I am grateful for the Lincoln. 

Before we bought this beauty, I prayed really hard. I mean, I prayed like I've never prayed before. 

And most of my prayers went something like this: 

Dear God, I love the Maverick (my husband owns 2 Ford Mavericks). I really do. It gets us from A to B without too many problems. I'm not even going to hold that one time it died on me while in the middle of an intersection against it. Or the time I was told that if we didn't fix the gas leak, it might catch on fire while I was driving it! Anyway, the heater in John McCain (it's what I named one of my husband's old cars. I might have been reading about the presidential election in 2008 when I was naming it. I mean, John McCain is a maverick, after all) is really, really warm and I've always wanted to learn how to drive a car that does not have power steering. But I think it's pretty obvious we need another car. One that preferably has a sunroof and air-conditioning. And looks really nice on the outside. I wouldn't mind if the inside looked O.K., too. The main thing is, it needs to be reliable. 

And a few weeks later, after many, many prayers about a car, my husband called me up and said, "I'm buying you a Lincoln!"  I was kind of shocked. I was expecting something more along the lines of my former car: a 1994 Dodge Intrepid. 

But, hey, who was I to complain?! I was floored. And then they let me take it home to test drive. And I fell in love. First, with the sunroof. Then with the heated seats. And when I discovered the V8 under the hood, I was sold. And Mary Ann (we named her after Abraham Lincoln's wife--yeah, we're a little strange in this house when it comes to naming cars. Her full name is Mary Ann Todd Lincoln, just in case you were wondering) joined our family soon after.

So, today, I am grateful for the Lincoln and it's heated seats, A/C, sunroof, nice exterior, O.K. interior, V8 engine, radio, and the fact that it does have power steering. I'm also grateful that God answered my prayers. And instead of giving me what I thought we needed, He gave me exactly what I wanted--plus more! 

Prayer works, my friends. Don't be afraid to ask God for exactly what you want. He may provide you with what you need instead. Or He might surprise you altogether and hand you a really wonderful blessing in the middle of this crazy ride called life.