Wow, I have been a bad blogger lately. I haven’t written a post since last week. It’s been a really busy weekend. Glenn’s car died on us last week and was going to cost a fortune to fix, so we decided it was best to look for a new-to-us car. We decided we needed to buy a car that would fit all our family, including our newest, soon to be daughter. That means a 7 seater car, which there aren’t too many of. We wanted a Suburban, but they are just too expensive, so we went with another minivan, we already have one. In the past, we have always bought cars out of the newspaper from individuals. As we looked for a new van, there just weren’t any for sale that we needed from individuals, so we were forced to have a new experience in car buying…the dealership. Yikes! We went to a very large dealership Friday night and needless to say we were not impressed. They treated us like idiots and it is an experience I don’t wish to repeat. The next day, we went to a small used car lot in Troutman (a very small town near us). We were a little wary at first, but it turned out to be a great experience. We bought a new-to-us van for a great price. Needless to say that whole venture took up our whole weekend.

I learned something from this experience though. As we were thinking about what type of car we wanted I would sit in car line at my son’s school and look at what all the other mom’s were driving. Most of them are driving new, in the last five years, vans and SUV’s. As I thought about what I wanted/needed in a car, I wished I could drive a car like theirs. The longer I prayed and looked at our budget, I realized it just wasn’t possible. I could have a brand new van, but it would come at the expense of our adoption plans. Ultimately, it’s not worth it. Our daughter is much more important than me having a brand new van. It’s all about priorities, and to be honest, this one was a no brainer. So, I will be driving my 9-year-old new-to-me van and when our daughter comes home I will be thankful for my choice.

Matthew 6:20 states, “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” My children are some of my treasures in heaven. I cannot take my stuff with me, but I can lead my children to a relationship with God and take them to heaven with me. What a great calling. When you look at the stuff here on earth, such a brand new vans, in light of this verse, it seems obvious what our priorities should be. I am not saying that brand new vans are bad, but we have to make sure our priorities are in line as we make decisions about what we will spend our time and money on here on earth, and realize it’s just stuff. What really matters is our relationships with other people.