Truck Continues to Gnaw at Me
August 7th, 2009Uselessness is Not a Virtue
I hope people will not fault me for returning to blogging as usual. Things will continue to go on behind the scenes, whether or not I write about them.
I guess I can mention one thing. It’s something I’ve written about before. In 1987, I received a miraculous healing, and last night my sister asked me how I got it. I tend to assume all Christians know these things, but I guess that’s dumb. I’ll go back over it. Maybe it will help someone.
I decided I had to find a church. When I started looking, I became ill. I thought I had a cold, but it would not go away. It wasn’t like an allergy; I know the difference. It persisted for weeks. It drove me nuts.
I had been watching a number of TV preachers. Somewhere–maybe it was from Kenneth Copeland–I heard that if you wanted to be healed, you had to “confess” your healing orally and stick to it, no matter what. You prayed for healing, then you announced aloud that God had healed you, and you continued to do that, without waivering, until your healing came. I gave it a try. I was sick for days after that, but I never once permitted myself to say I was not healed.
One day I was standing in my dad’s kitchen, and I looked in the freezer. While the door was open, I saw a dark transparent shape travel from me into the freezer, and then it made a turn and went out through the back door of the house, which was closed. I was instantly healed. My mother and father were in the next room. They didn’t see what happened, but they both saw that I was healed when I came out of the kitchen. My father forgot it. My mother never did. Oddly, my father has forgotten it several times, and so has my sister. I’ve had to tell them more than once. I’ve told my sister at least twice this year, and there is nothing wrong with her memory.
It wasn’t a leg growing back. It wasn’t cancer. But it was a miracle anyway, and it was a big relief to me.
Today I would do more. I’d add fasting and repentance and offerings and prayer. But what I did in 1987 worked. I think sometimes God does more for a new believer than he would for someone who knows the ropes. Just a guess.
I don’t endorse Kenneth Copeland, but no evangelist is wrong all the time. Maybe this story will help someone.
Back to normal life.
As time passes, I am more and more inclined to get a pickup and sell the T-bird. I was sitting in church the other day, thinking what I always think: “I wish I were of more use to these people.” I have all these tools now, and I have time. But I drive a car with two seats and a trunk the size of a lunchbox. The trunk is amazing; it may well be the reason this car was not popular. You can get two suitcases in it, and that’s it. Period. I would guess that it’s impossible to put anything more than 14″ tall in there. If I take this car to the gun range, I have to put my range box in the passenger seat.
It’s starting to look like we’re going into a deceptive plateau in the decline of the United States. That means cars will start selling, and prices will go up. I’m thinking I should snap up a truck before the dealers develop a false sense of confidence. Then I can hold onto the convertible for a few months to see if the used-car market gets a boost. If not, I unload it. Or I drive it occasionally. The only problem with that scenario is clutter. The positive side would be that I would not have to drive a huge vehicle all the time. I find that when I drive a big vehicle, every once in a while, I really miss driving small cars I can turn and park easily.
The picture is complicated because my father unexpectedly announced that he might want to take advantage of the Obama handout. I can’t blame him. The IRS treated him like a slush fund all his life. He will never break even. He’s thinking of getting rid of his old Explorer. The best truck he can extract from Obama’s udder is a Toyota Tacoma. It’s smaller than I would like, but it will work. I can’t put extremely heavy objects in the bed, but it will pull a rented trailer just fine. You can’t rent a trailer if you have an Explorer. Uhaul’s attorneys have seen to that. And the Explorer’s odometer died at 109K, so I wouldn’t trust it with a trailer now.
He has an idea about getting a travel trailer; I don’t know if that’s a great idea, but the Tacoma will pull it. It’s not the best choice, but it can be done. If he gets a Tacoma, I’ll be a good son and borrow it constantly. No need for an F150.
Either truck would be a good move. I would like to have something practical. When I got the T-bird, I didn’t need a utility vehicle, because I could always borrow the Explorer. Now the Explorer is old, and it’s not an ideal vehicle for hauling things, and I have more reason to haul. Maybe I’ll run up to the Ford dealership and take a look at the F150 I have my eye on.
I was practicing law when I got the T-bird. I thought it would be fun to have a car with a little style, and I am addicted to ragtops. You don’t need a big car when your payload consists of a briefcase and a laptop, and it wasn’t a bad car for a single man to have. You know how women are. But I am shedding the upscale trappings I started to accumulate in law school. I wish I could burn my suits. I wear sneakers and cargo shorts all the time. I have given up on expensive sunglasses. The people in the better men’s shops used to know me by sight. Those days are long gone. And the women I am likely to meet now are not going to have a lot of interest in flash. A woman who will not let you take her out in a pickup is going to be trouble eventually. Like a man who expects his wife to give him an itinerary whenever she leaves the house. Or a guy who drives with no shirt on. I am convinced they always make bad husbands. It’s a hunch.
If I have a truck, I’ll be better able to pursue my own hobbies, and I’ll be in a position to make myself useful to others. If the church needs a sliding miter saw or a table saw, I’ll be able to pop it in the bed and get on the road. I won’t have to sit in the congregation feeling like a doofus because I drive a self-indulgent roadster.
If they know I have tools and a truck, won’t they bother me all the time, asking for favors? Probably. That’s what I’m hoping for.
I should go look at that thing. I dread meeting a salesperson. I’d rather have a snake thrown on me. But I guess there is no other way.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Sounds like God is moving pieces around in your life in order to use you in new ministry opportunities. God’s blessings on you as you seek His direction. It’s just two little words that make the biggest impact in our lives: trust and obey.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:25 AM
I have a F150 with 359000 miles. The engine has never had any work other than cleaning out the EGR passages in the intake and the usual preventative maintenance work. Still runs great and gets 20 mpg on the highway and 17 in town.
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If you get one I hope it gives you service like mine has.
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Prayer still going for your sister.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:49 AM
How much of your needs would the explorer meet? It can haul lotsa heaviness.
August 7th, 2009 at 12:03 PM
1.)Find out if there’s a car dealer at church. Or at least get referrals. Could go either way, but you might as well build that network.
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2.)Those classic, well made suits will serve a purpose someday. If the church needs legal help, a well-presented lawyerly looking lawyer could be just what they need. Didn’t Paul say something good about being all things to all people?
August 7th, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Thanks for the story of your healing (again). I can’t go into it, but it applies at the moment…
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I like Greg’s #1 point, but my local Christian-owned Car Dealer doesn’t carry Trucks 🙁
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Maybe you’ll have better luck in Coral Gables/Miami.
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I’m surprised with how much the Tacomas can pull (a fellow aviator has one that he uses to pull a 6000+lbs trailer), but I’m still inclined towards the F-150/250…lotsa add-ons are available for the Ford (adjustable air-shocks, caps and covers, brake controllers, et cetera). It’s not that stuff is not made for the Tacoma, it’s just that EVERYONE makes stuff for the F-150.
August 7th, 2009 at 12:49 PM
If Daddy Obama really loved me, he’d buy me the F150.
August 7th, 2009 at 1:05 PM
You want to know how retarded C4C is? I have a 94 Toyota 4WD that I wanted to trade for a new truck. It’s classified as a “type 1” truck (my old Toyota). So I checked the F-150 base, and it’s a “type 2” truck…no go. Chevy has a Hybrid…HYBRID…Silverado, that gets 7 miles more per gallon than mine, but since it’s a “type 2” truck, it’s a no go also. Retarded. So, like you said the only thing I could get would be another anemic “mini” truck.
August 7th, 2009 at 1:05 PM
If Daddy Obama really loved me, he’d buy me the F150.
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Somehow I don’t think Love is part of his equation, at least the non-codependant philia kind…too much Chicaga in’em.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:33 PM
“If they know I have tools and a truck, won’t they bother me all the time, asking for favors? Probably. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
A servant’s heart. My Brother.
And maybe I was wrong about the extended cab with 6′ bed. Maybe that’s what you need. I see the back seat as a clutter catcher.
Get the F150. Like JeffW said. I buy ’em used, drive ’em till I can’t stand the rust and get another one. Why loose money driving off the lot?
If Obama’s giving out Tacoma’s, walk the other way.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Go to Costco and use their car program, you tell them what you want, the give you a dealer contact, you call them they tell you a price. Take it or leave it–no hassles.
August 7th, 2009 at 2:55 PM
Just so you know. It is against the law to drive without a shirt on in the Republic of Panama. One of those laws that I heard was directed against the indians here. On the other hand, I heard that from a commie sympathizer so who knows.
Remember, you can always carry less in a big truck.
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I was thinking about this last night and in a 3/4 ton with stock racks you could carry three gilded Bhramas. You could actually carry three Bhrama bulls but I wouldn’t recommend it.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:51 PM
“I think sometimes God does more for a new believer than he would for someone who knows the ropes.”
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Temple priests prayed that gentiles bringing sacrifices would have their requests completely fulfilled and did not do so for Jews. Getting a material blessing is wonderful but it’s not quite the same level of fulfillment as someone who seeks to fulfill his Creator’s wishes and earns a deeper connection that may take years or decades to accomplish.
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I’ve known more than a few Jews who dabbled in observance in a “deal” with God that they’d get a better job, a spouse, whatever. Within 3 years, they were gone and back to their previous secular behavior and blaming God for not getting what they wanted. That’s not Judaism. They were not seeking a relationship with their Creator. I’ve also known of “converts” who sought to become Jewish for similar reasons, but as soon as they got their fraudulent papers from Reform or Conservative “rabbis” — who never mentioned that Leviticus isn’t negotiable — they fell off the path (not that they were ever much on it) when there was the slightest obstacle.
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Moses and Miriam were held to a standard that we cannot comprehend and neither were allowed to enter the Promised land. While they did not achieve their temporal desires, there is no doubt that they were received well by their Creator.
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By contrast, it is a Greek/pagan ethos whereby those with talent seek to absolve their character flaws by appealing to the masses. From this we get bribed politicians, murderous athletes, pedophile musicians, adulterous actors and morally filthy “Intellectuals” (read Paul Johnson’s book) who are put on marble pedestals by the “liberal” and “leftist” folk who don’t merely resist but are angry about the notion of standards to which they’ll be held accountable.
August 7th, 2009 at 8:39 PM
“I think sometimes God does more for a new believer than he would for someone who knows the ropes.”
I’ve noticed that upon conversion, many Christians get a “gift”.
It’s often miraculously loosing an addiction (smoking, dope, booze).
I lost my constant use of curse words. Just gone.
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August 7th, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Steve, regarding any Ford/Lincoln/Mercury product, just get me the first to letters/digits and the last eight letters/digits of your candidate vehicle’s VIN, and your zip code.
I’ll be able to reply to you by e-mail with an actual Ford Motor Company invoice, and “Smart VINcent” on THAT EXACT UNIT, which will give you in great detail, every discount, hidden dealer cash (if there’s any on that unit), all rebates and incentivized interest rates and terms.
In short, you’ll know the invoice, the holdback, any “funny money” (dealer cash) and will in all ways be aware of that dealer’s EXACT ACTUAL COST on that vehicle.
In what industry insiders consider a “doable” deal, which results in a minimum (mini) commission for the salesman, you’d offer no more than $100 over invoice, less all applicable rebates, and 1/2 of any dealer cash on the VINcent. You should not try to haggle for any holdback money, as that’s TRULY the lights and water for the dealership.
They might hate you, but they ought to sell you the truck for that offer. Be prepared to not get any dealer cash, as they tend to be stubborn on that.
Get the ’09 with the THREE VALVE 4.6 engine. Don’t bother with the two valve, it’s not even in the same league.
But seriously, get me those VIN factors, and I’ll turn it into valuable information for you.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
August 8th, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Praying for your sister.
My mom was admitted to the hospital last night.