Echo (echo)

I sold my Echo on Saturday. It has been a great little car for the almost 5 years I have owned it, but since moving closer to downtown, I decided that perhaps I could do without a vehicle. I already own a bus/metro pass and use it several times a week to get around because it eliminates fighting the traffic and paying for parking. Due to living right on a bus route and being within walking distance to many stores, my little car was sitting behind our condo for days at a time, lonely and under-appreciated. I mostly used it to get groceries, run errands, get somewhere when I was running late, or help out friends. It was really a convenience more than a necessity, and I calculated that the annual cost of registration and insurance alone would cover a car rental twice a month, before one figured in any maintenance and repairs. Plus, we still had Dean's car which I could use on evenings and weekends.

And so I put it up for sale on http://www.craigslist.ca/ (I love craigslist!) on Tuesday, July 7. I had three calls within the next few days. All the prospective buyers looked my car over and offered me money for it. Of the three gentlemen that I met, Nasir from Pakistan was the one that I wanted to sell my car to. He was a recent engineering graduate and a family man with a new baby and elderly visiting parents, and this was to be his first automobile in Canada. He was excited about owning a car, even though it presented some challenges for him, like learning how to drive on the right side of the road and shift with his right hand. He also offered me the best price, though his final offer came in $100 lower than I had hoped to get for my car. I asked God to somehow close the gap, whether through giving Nasir some money or having me find $100 on the sidewalk or whatever he saw fit.

We left it for a few days and I received no other better offers on my car, so I called Nasir and accepted his price, deciding that $100 was nothing to be concerned about. He was very happy and we made the exchange on Saturday morning. Six days later, I am still very content to be car-less. I plan my errands in advance to make the best use of my time and love getting outside to walk on a regular basis. If is it raining, I just postpone things or take the bus or wait for Dean's car. There is always a creative solution to be found, and I feel a new sense of freedom from the faux urgency of life and the chronic consumerism that is part of so much of life in the Western world.

Yesterday, someone unexpectedly gave me $100. I didn't make the connection between my prayer and the gift until this morning. As always, God is very good at closing the gaps, but often asks me to trust him first so that I don't confuse his characteristic faithfulness with things magically working out in my life. Whether I received the extra $100 or not, I was content, and I think that's more valuable than any money that came my way.

This is me, taking a brief stop at the pond to enjoy the scenery on my walk to the mall to do some banking yesterday.