Devotional Stories for Mothers
Jan Brand
When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter.
"Why did Dad give us this piece of junk?" My usually mild-mannered, easy-going ten-year-old son echoed my dismay. The car was old and the size of a Sherman tank. It had that musty smell of decaying leather and upholstery—nothing like the cars we were accustomed to driving. But we needed a car, as my car was irreparable, and I cringed at the idea of a car payment. So a free car was attractive—well, almost.
Ever since my divorce, my ex-husband bought my cars. The first year, he gave me a Cadillac. The next year, I got an Oldsmobile. The year after that, I got a Ford. Each year for five years, they kept going down in value. I quipped to friends that if I stayed divorced long enough, they would see me on a moped.
To get out of the marriage, I didn't take any money. Even though our marriage ended badly, my ex had some sense of decency, so he bought my cars. But this one clearly said he had worked through his guilt, and I would soon be on my own. A moped might have been better.
The old Buick he just had brought me was about a half-block long, with fading burgundy paint, and a padded top that was beginning to crack. I shuddered every time I looked at it.
Billy hung his head every time he had to get into it for me to drop him at school or one of his friends' houses. Being a boy, cars mattered.
One day as we lumbered along in our tank, Bill was doing his usual grumbling. "Mom, this piece of junk stinks, and it looks awful. Nobody has a car like this but us. Why did Daddy give it to us?"
"Billy, I have an idea. Do you remember the story in the Bible when the children of Israel murmured and complained in the wilderness when they came to the bitter water? It wasn't until they changed what they said that God made the water sweet. Let's try it. Let's start thanking God for this car and see what happens."
That's the day we began the ritual of getting in the car, putting our hands on the dashboard, and thanking God that we had transportation, that the car ran, and that it had come to us as a free gift.
A few weeks later, my ex-husband won a new Thunderbird Special Edition in a hole-in-one at the country club. He drove a Lincoln, and his new wife drove a Jeep. He sent the Thunderbird to us.
Bill is thirty-five now, but he still remembers the lesson of thanking God for the "piece of junk" and when life doesn't give us everything we want, to thank God for everything we have.
(503 words)