Our household had a very busy week this week! It seems to have flown by!!

On Memorial Day, Karl hosted our first Star Wars Marathon. We grilled burgers and hotdogs and our guests brought side dishes and snacks. We had a house full of people and plenty of food!! Episode I began at noon, followed by Episodes II and III with short breaks between each film. We didn’t finish all of the movies until about 8:3o that night. Most people left after Episode II, though. I had a lot of fun chatting with the wives who came with their families. We sat in the kitchen or in our school/playroom.

Tuesday, we had to take care of the car which involved driving it to the body shop and then going to pick up the rental car. After that I took the kids to their swimming lesson evaluations while Karl drove to Atlanta to work on something for his company. It’s computer related, so I don’t really understand it…something about creating a software cluster. The kids are super-excited about swim lessons this summer. And I am so glad that we went ahead on Tuesday rather than waiting til Wednesday because the classes filled up Tuesday morning!

Wednesday was a regular day. Schoolwork, laundry, housekeeping, etc. The smoke from the fires raging in Georgia is keeping us indoors. I guess that’s o.k. because it is VERY hot outside. We are all praying for some rain. I’m glad this hurricane season is supposed to be one of the “worst ever in the history of the world”–we need the rain up here in Alabama. Our wedding anniversary was today, so the kids and I watched our wedding and honeymoon video (but I already wrote about that). Karl finished what he had to do in Atlanta and arrived home safely.

Thursday, we did some school work and a little room cleaning before heading to Birmingham for a night out to celebrate our anniversary. Karl’s parents kept the kids while we enjoyed a fine dinner at a restaurant called Brio’s. After dinner we tried to find a movie worth watching, but there is not a single movie in the theaters that we are interested in paying $20 to see. So we ended up browsing Barnes & Noble until it closed.

Today is Friday and Karl is busy deciding what he is going to do about a vehicle. We adored our little ’95 Camry. We bought it used in 1998 a few months before Hannah was born. It has 120,000 miles on it and it never gave us a bit of trouble. It has at least another 10 years left in it! He is pretty frustrated that the actions of one girl who wasn’t paying attention has landed him without the most reliable vehicle he has ever owned. The insurance company has decided that they are not going to repair our car. It will cost them less to “total” it. So, this afternoon we are going shopping. Thanks to Dave Ramsey, Karl has been persuaded that he will never buy another new vehicle. So, we’ll be looking for something gently used. Plus, it has been soooo nice to not have a car payment the last year or two we hate to go back into too much debt for a car.

I’ve been thinking about what God may be doing with us in all of this car business. I can think of several blessings in all of this: no one was injured in the accident, no part of the car’s engine was damaged (not even the radiator!), Karl had not bought new tires for the Camry yet. It seems to be just one of those senseless things that happens. I want it to make sense, but it just doesn’t right now. I’ve wondered if this could be a chastening for something. Perhaps it will turn out to be a test since we would rather not incur more debt.

Now that is a hot topic! Is it ever O.K. for a Christian to take out a loan? Is that not the same as taking water from Egypt’s cisterns? Turning to man-made “help” rather than God. I’ll admit that it does sound very romantic to allow God the opportunity to get himself glory from us by waiting for Him, saying no to the world’s ways, and relying on His provision. At the same time, it is so incredibly easy (and quick!) to get a small loan to cover the price difference for a used car.

What do you think?