So our friend, Daniel, wanted to buy our car. He took it to his mechanic friend to see how much needs to be fixed on it before he buys it. Well, we figured it would probably be a lot since we were admittedly bad at the upkeep of this car. What we weren't expecting, is to hear that it is late on passing inspection. This is a serious offense that entails a heafty fine, some points on your driving record and possibly having the car towed away. We were obviously oblivious to this fact, having read the expiration date wrong. We also found out that our tires were mixed (every car has winter and summer tires), also illegal with a large fine. Knowing all this could have been very expensive, as we would have had to pay for all the other repairs (brakes, power steering, shock absorber, new tires) that amounted to 2,500 (without labor) in order to get it through inspection. Or live without a car for the last 5 months. Just thinking about all that could have happened, and didn't, still blows our minds--we drove all the way down to Bavaria!
Then we tried to get rid of the car as quickly as possible. Called here, there and everywhere and found someone who would take it, despite all its issues. He is a very nice Muslim man. Trouble is, we sent the title on the ship with the rest of our stuff. So Brett goes with him to get a replacement title, and on the way back "God" comes up. A somewhat nervous, yet excited, Brett decided to just listen, throwing a poignant question or two in.
Car is gone, got enough money for it, and we discover the owner's manual on the desk. No big deal, but an opportunity. Look in to getting an Arabic NT through Mission for SE Europe (http://www.msoe.org/), which came in the mail the very next day. I'll send it off today, along with a prayer.
All this has got me thinking about ramifications--what if we'd have gotten caught? Will he open it? What if we had sold it to someone else? What if we had been worried about getting as much for the car as possible? We had a missionary at church say, your faith in God doesn't have to be huge, but the God of your faith is. He has a plan and he works everything out according to it (Eph 1:11).
What a relief! I will take my ignorance and live a blissful life.
