Tender Mercies!!

Well I guess that since I havent written in a little while, I should start off with the most exciting news that we have gotten. But in order to tell you that, I have to start with a back story. For the past little while, I have been worried about Patrick's car. I just had a feeling that the transmission was going to go in it. It had started shifting hard and occasionally the check engine light would come on and then go off again. Because of this, we decided that we needed to start looking for a new car. We decided to get an SUV so that when we have kids, we wont have to upgrade to a larger car. We wanted something that would last us a long time. We went to Carmax and picked out a Jeep that we LOVED! It was red, fairly new (2010), very low miles, and had only ever been used as a rental car. It was perfect! We told the salesman that we wanted to think about it overnight but that we were pretty sure that we wanted to get it. The next day was Saturday and I had to work. Patrick came and had lunch with me at work and we discussed the car. We worked out a budget and decided we did in fact have enough money to get it. When I got home from work, Patrick said he had some bad news. He told me that when he had run his credit report, some student loans that we thought were being paid on and were close to being paid off, were actually still at $3100! Our hearts sank as we realized that there was no way we could get the car anymore. I was so sad. I also felt like it was going to put our Disneyland trip on hold as well that we had planned. I felt like all the fun things we were looking forward to were coming crashing down. All our money would go to paying off these debts. After several meltdowns, I finally became okay with it and made a plan. We made an even tighter budget and made a budget that would allow us to pay off our debts (his loans, my student loans, and our discover card) in about 5 months. THEN we would get our car and start saving for our Disneyland trip again. Just when I thought we had everything worked out, BOOM..Patrick's car bit the dust. I drove it out to Jordan Landing and then when I tried to put it into drive again to leave, it wouldnt go into drive. The transmission was totally shot! Well, we decided we would rework the budget once again. I agreed to work 2 extra shifts a month so we could make a car payment and still pay off our debts as quick as we had hoped and we decided to get the Jeep after all. We called the car guy and told him to hold it for us and that we would be in the next day. Sorry if this is getting long, but I dont want to forget any part of this story cuz I feel like it was all a miracle! So we went back to get the car. We were signing the papers when the guy told us "I had another couple that came and looked at the Jeep about 2 months ago come back in today to get it. They were $2000 short of qualifying last time and so they got their tax return and came back to get it. We had just pulled it for you guys. This Jeep has been on our lot for 80 days and the price has come down twice. You guys are really lucky". Now i know salesmen are known to not be truthful, but I believed him. I really do think we were meant to get that car. Well next came the serious challenge..getting our car to Carmax so that we could trade it in. We dont know many people with trucks and it was looking like we were going to have to pay to have it towed when my mom came up with an idea. The car would go in 1st and 2nd gear, just not drive. We could get it to go about 15 miles an hour. SOOOO at 11:00 at night, we drove the backstreets, Patrick in his car and he following him in mine. When we got to a huge hill, I had to rev the car while Patrick pushed from the back and the car smoked. It was kinda funny..but kinda not. I was impressed with us. In reality, I feel like it brought us closer together. I was so proud of my husband!! He told me to throw the car into second and he would push. So i did..and he pushed super hard and got it up the hill. When he was done I realized I had been in 1st all along. And he wasnt even that mad at me about it hahah
NOW FOR THE SERIOUS TENDER MERCY........
So we had our car, we had our plan. Then we went to get our taxes done. We didnt think we would get anything and thought we would probably end up owing. While my uncle ran the numbers we sat nervously. When he told us how much we were getting back, we almost fell out of our seats! $3700!! With that money, Patrick's bonus he is getting from work, and the money we had saved this money from living on a tight budget, we have enough to pay EVERYTHING off!! My loans, Patrick's loans, and the Discover card. I was in shock like all day! I think this is the biggest miracle that has happened to me. It reminded me of something our mission president used to say "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven". I'm telling you people, I really believe that because we decided this wasnt going to beat us, we had worked out a plan, and we were still paying our tithing, the Lord opened up the windows of heaven and there was not enough room to receive the blessings that he poured upon me and Patrick. We are so blessed and I felt like I had to share this story. I told Patrick "This is the kind of story you read in the Ensign!" I just feel very lucky and like the Lord is looking out for me. I love tender mercies. Sorry this post was so long, I just dont want to ever forget this blessing for as long as I live.