18 years ago, we bought a Suburban.

Today, we donated it to a church so they could pick up kids for camp and stuff.

The pastor of the church asked Scott to send him an email giving a little history about the car so he could share it at his church. Here’s what he sent:

Hello Faith,

Pastor Taylor asked me to put some thoughts together about the Suburban and to pass them through you….so here go’s…

The reason Jena and I ended up with a gigantic gas guzzler in 1999 is because of an ultrasound.  We were living in Fresno, California in 1999 and Jennifer was pregnant with our second child.  We both had two door coups and one of us was going to have to trade their respective car in for a four door.  So that day had three objectives; get to the ultrasound appointment, shop for a four door compact, and argue about which one of us gives up their respective sports car.

So regarding the argument….I lost.

Regarding the car shopping….read on.

Regarding the ultrasound, this is where it gets interesting.  So it was the six month check, everything was fine and we didn’t want to know, or cared, if the baby was a boy or girl.  We just wanted one healthy baby. (Jen here – back then we didn’t do ultrasounds like they do today and the doctor only ever heard one heartbeat) The ultrasound tech was spending a bunch of time examining Jena and was sort of quiet.  Then she said something like this, and I paraphrase.  <Here is a super strong heart beat….and here is another super strong heart beat.>  Yup, twins and I just about fell over.  This was the first anyone ever mentioned, let alone confirmed, that Jena was going to have twins. (aside from Jen – the tech actually said “here’s one head. And here’s the other one.” And Scott said “are you telling me we’re having a 2 headed baby?” It was a great moment).

 SO in that moment of panic, joy, and ‘how are we going to survive this’, I called a friend of mine who is a life time Fresno resident and asked if he knew anyone in the car biz that could help me out because the four door compact car we were thinking about wasn’t going to hack it.  He did of course.  And right after the ultrasound appointment, Jena and I drove down to Ed Dena’s Auto Center in Dinuba, CA, a little farming town in central California.  My buddy’s child hood friend owned a dealership there.  We met the owner and I described the situation.  He basically said this was not a problem and to give him a couple of days.  Sure enough, three days later we were back in Dinuba, picking up the suburban that we are so very happy to give that suburban to your congregation.

We raised three boys in that truck.  Lots of memories.  It protected my family more than once and I am more than confident it will take care of your needs as well.

Very glad you all have a use for it.

Take care and regards,

Scott Lefforge

Several things stick out about this story. 1. every word of it is true 2. our story is a miracle, not because it’s so special but because it’s ours and 3. I married very well.

And, like all things that we let go of as our children grow up, it can be hard to let go. But when we let go, we can bless others, and that, Friends, is the whole name of the game. Oh, and by the way, it took me over a year to convince him to donate this vehicle. The above makes it crystal clear why.

Happy running. And raising. And blessing.