My key to......

...FREEDOM!!!!!

If you have been reading my blog for a little bit you may remember this post from a couple months back...

Debt Free {our story}

And if you actually read it all (I know it was long!) then you saw that we sold our beloved family SUV back in September.

I loved our Sequoia!! It was perfect, and big, and cozy to drive. It got awesome gas mileage (for an suv) and had 8 seats! There was always plenty of room for outings with friends, or family that was in town. Or just lots of room to separate my kids when they were fighting. Ya know. But with that fancy ride came a huge payment! Ugh! If we would of never bought that dang thing I could have bought a house by now! 

We flushed almost $600 a month just between the payment and insurance. That is a ton of money! Especially over the course of 4 years. 

On our road to becoming debt free we felt the Lord telling us we needed to sell it. But we weren't to go out and finance a different car. We were to save up and buy a cheap little car for a few grand. Being debt free means no payments! None. {Except a mortgage maybe}

Everyone thought we were weird and slightly crazy. But I guess that is ok. :) We got all kinds of unsolicited advice as why we shouldn't.

We knew it would take a few (ok several) months for us to save up enough cash to buy something decent-ish. 

So that meant I would have no vehicle! My husband has a company work truck that we can all fit in. But he works a lot. The months of November and December he was gone more than he was home. He is busy with his regular company, plus he picks up side jobs on his own as well. {He actually just got his own company going again due to all the side work he has!! So proud of him! If you need a super talented electrician I happen to know one.} 

So we were down to his big, old, dirty work truck. That is filled with tools and guzzles gas like no other! He would have to unload all his tool whenever we went anywhere. Which he hated doing! He even drove to work several days only to get there and realize his tools were at home in the garage. Doh! So he would have to come all the way back home. And I won't even get started on the stories of the few times we tried to go out for date night in it! Oh boy... You can't park a long-bed, extended-cab F250 just anywhere you please.  

Did you know I homeschool as well?!?!? Um, so that means I am home with 3 kiddos ALL. DAY. LONG! No escape to Target to wander the aisles can drive a woman cray cray!

But you know what is amazing?! When you are obedient to {the sometime crazy} instructions of God, you are always blessed tremendously.

We sold our car with no time frame of when we would be able to stock pile enough cash to buy a new one. 

But God already had it all planned.

You see we had this car GIVEN to us. As in free. What?! Yes!

True story.

A Lexus! With a sun roof, and leather, and a 6 disk CD changer!! {My kids think these are crazy fancy features. :) Ok, I do too!}

And it only has 120k miles! That's way less than our Sequoia had. 

When we got the call that a family from our church wanted to give us their "old" car we were shocked. Like had no words shocked! 

How did they even know we had one car?! Did they see us jumping out of the huge, old F250 at church? Did they see our heads bobbing up and down as we drove away? 

(Haha! my husbands truck is a beast! Don't try and drink your coffee while riding in there!)

God's timing is crazy. And awesome. And perfect. 

And boy does He know our hearts. I love how personal He is with each one of us. 

Because surely I was expecting to receive this...

Or maybe this,

Or something along the lines of this little gem!

(not that I think that is what our friends would drive)

And I would of probably been stoked just to have four wheels that would let me escape these four walls and the craziness that lies within!! Seriously. Lock yourself in your house (during winter. I am not a fan of long walks in 20 degree weather, not sure about you) with three kids and see how long you last! You will become all kinds of crazy real fast! Most weeks the only day I got to get out into the real world was Sunday. 

I cried a lot. And even almost applied online for an auto loan through our credit union during an epic melt down one day. 

Haha! But really, I was ready for a car. :)

And not only did the Lord bless us like crazy with a vehicle. But he didn't give us one of those irresistible cars above. He knows me like no one else does and gave me a Lexus!! More than I deserve. A symbol of His Love for me, direct to the deepest places of my heart. 

I have never been more appreciative of the often taken-for-granted ability to drive somewhere. To the store to pick up an ingredient for dinner. To the post office to mail a package. To the corner fast food restaurant to sit in alone-ness while my kids play in the germ infested play-place. You know, just to be able to go anywhere!

I don't think the McCoy family will ever know how grateful we are! I can't say Thank You enough!!
Deep down Camie is my new BFF. She doesn't even know of her new status, but it's there. ;)

Enough sitting in front of the computer! The kids and I have places to go...