I'm not a soccer mom, I'm a SURFING mom.

For over a year now, my 2005 Ford Focus wagon had been having an issue with the gas pedal sticking. Being that I had been a bit distracted I ignored it. However, the sticking had become more frequent, and I became more uneasy with it. I made an appointment to have the repair shop look at it today, and learned the warranty we had on the car expired about 2000 miles ago, of course. So, while they ran the diagnostic check on the car to come up with the estimate for my out-of-pocket expenses for the repairs, I browsed the used minivans.

Usually, car shopping would have been an exciting adventure for me. Today, however, it was another trip down memory lane. I had returned to the same dealership Joel and I had purchased the Ford from. He had located and decided upon the car, and I was about to get rid of it. I also was about to get rid of his Nissan Frontier pickup truck. It was another bitter sweet experience.

I ultimately made the decision to go for it. I got fair trade-in values for both vehicles, and I'm going to have the same monthly payment as we had on the Ford. Of course, there's a bit of a down payment, but to have a safer vehicle for me and the girls, I believe it's worth it. (And I would have needed to spend almost half that amount on repairs.) This was the first car shopping experience I had ever had completely on my own. Before signing the papers though, I took a bit of a walk outside to pray about it. I expected to get knots in my stomach, a lump in my throat and hear Joel screaming at me, "Don't do it," but instead, it felt right. So, I went inside and signed the papers. When I walked back outside to look at the dark blue 2007 Dodge Caravan I had just bought, I saw above it a bold and beautiful rainbow. I took it as though both God and Joel were smiling down upon me saying, "Good choice!"

I cried as I handed over the keys to his truck and drove away from it (but cared less about leaving that spoiled milk smelling, 5-speed manual transmission Ford!). Amazing how it seems so hard to let go of some things, but not others.