The Mustang 2 (2 as in Part 2, not the crummy 70s version of the car)
Here is the ‘Word of Faith’ version of how I got my Mustang.
My dad used to restore and sell Ford Mustangs, so as a young teenager I loved Mustangs and wanted one for my first car. I wanted a 1966 Honey Gold Fastback (2+2). I found a photo of one that looked just like what I wanted, and I hung it up in my bedroom. I asked God for that car, and I began to thank him for it every day.
My dad was pretty sure that I couldn’t afford a fastback for my first car. He said that I should buy and restore an ordinary six cylinder ’65 or ’66, sell it, take the profit, do it again, and then get my fastback. He knew what he was talking about too; Mustangs were the way he made a lot of his money.
I wasn’t having any of that. I hated working on cars and wanted to do as little of that as possible. Also, a year before I had given my life savings (about $500) to a friend to help pay for her Teen Mania mission trip. I had a claim on God for a lot of money. I could see the car, and it was mine.
Before too long my dad came across a 1965 fastback that looked pretty rough, but had a good body and engine. Almost simultaneously, he came across a wrecked 1965 coupe with a nearly new interior. Both for a reasonable price. To top it off, when we looked at the VIN code, we found that the original colour of the fastback was Honey Gold!
I prayed. I believed. I confessed. I got my car.
This is the appropriate place to insert ‘HALLELUJAH!’
Now here is the rest of the story.
1. I was claiming a 1966 Mustang. I got a 1965.
2. I was also after the oh-so-desirable styled steel wheels and fog lamps. I didn’t get those.
3. It didn’t just happen. Even though my dad didn’t think I could afford the car I was after, he was still looking for it.
4. My dad is very generous. He gave me the $1,500 profit from another car he fixed and sold.
5. He and I both put a huge amount of hot, greasy, sweaty time turning those two cars into one really great first car.
This is the point I want to make.
It is easy to tell a story like it is a triumph of good confession. It is easy to call something a miracle. It is easy to reduce all the hard work and human ingenuity that goes into a success to a breezy little sentence that no one notices. It is easy to get the impression that all you need to do to get what you want in life is to think the right thing and say the right thing.
The truth is that most ‘miracles’ involve an awful lot of hard work and sacrifice.
Finally.
I am very grateful for my time with that car. I am very grateful to God for making a universe that somehow responds to our faith. I am very grateful that my parents taught me to be bold and go after the things that I believe God wants for me. Most of all, I am grateful for my dad’s love and sacrifice that made my confessing and claiming look so good.
26 August 2008 Jeff Gill
tags: faith,
humans,
money,
youth
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