Most pastors spend their Wednesday getting ready for a bible study or other meeting in the evening.  I decided to spend it car shopping for my daughter.  Don't worry as most of the details will be left out of this brief post.  One of my jobs around the house is to do the car hunting when there is a need.  This does not make me some type of keen trader.  Mostly it means that I am the only one willing to go through the punishment of this errand.  Maybe it makes me a tad foolish but someone has to do it.  I can report success as my daughter will have a newer automobile to drive in a few days.  Some may think my efforts fell short but this dad believes the new vehicle should work out for a few years.


Some of my relatives by marriage are in the car business.  The only benefit of that to me is the ability to just be honest with salesmen.  I learned that they need to sell cars to keep the money flowing.  The best approach is to just shoot straight with them about your needs.  One of the odd facts of the day is this new purchase is from the dealership that bought my relatives out a few years ago.  I spent sometime when they were here just dropping in from time to time to visit.  Now they set up shop back in Louisiana but my first serious stop was on familiar turf.  It also helps when you tell the people that the car is for your daughter.  They know full well that no dad is going to just drive anything off the lot.  My dealer looks a little older than I so he got my drift when he learned it was a car for a daughter.  Reminding them often of this truth never hurts either.  We got about as good of a deal as one could hope for under the circumstances.  Some may be able to go back and forth for the extra few dollars off but that's not my style.  I personally like to walk away with some shred of self respect intact.


I mentioned getting to talk about family during the day.  Most of my relatives are either gone or live away.  We are a very small group of people left.  A family reunion could be held in a closet.  So having the chance to remember stuff from the past was pretty amazing.  It took me back to the times of my grandparents as well as to thinking about some of their family.  I could remember voices from my past even after all of this time.  Always surprises me how the past can catch up with your present on occasion.  I walked out a bit poorer financially but somehow felt more connected to those I miss.  This makes today a very good day no matter why I was out shopping for a car.  That in itself is the spiritual point of the post.  Never be surprised by God's small gifts in the midst of an ordinary day.  It can happen even when you shop for cars.


Bro. Trey