MISSION UPDATE: We have twins!

Can anyone guess which is Levi and which is Quinn?

Many years ago (15 if we're being specific) I was expecting my twins which would be baby #6 and #7. That was going to make us a 9 person family and too large for normal vans people buy when they have a few children. So we made the difficult decision to purchase a 12 passenger van. I say difficult because we worked at a camp that owned a large van which was endearingly (I hope) referred to as the "kidnapper van" by summer camp staff and campers. I didn't especially love the idea of driving something people might refer to in the same way.

Post twins, pre-Zach. Less than a year into our original "big van" era

But alas, the purchase was made and we brought the van home to await the arrival of the two small boys who were making it necessary to have such a large vehicle. The van was white and I thought it looked like a giant marshmallow.

Fast forward a few years (15, to be exact) and we've moved to Thailand and our family has grown from 9 to more like 30 and a 12 passenger just doesn't cut it. Two 12 passengers aren't even enough but still, we were praying for two but knew we needed to wait to be able to buy something much newer. The funding for that was well beyond reach.

Beyond our reach, that is. Everything is within the reach of God, however, and He's wise to know when a thing is good and when it isn't. Often we have to wait far longer than we think should be necessary but He truly always has the best plan and it's always worth waiting for.

Some dear friends of ours have some dear friends and they've shared with them about our ministry here in Sukhothai and their friends chose to get personally involved. This year they sent an amount sufficient to make the purchase of at least one van, possibly two. They didn't specify what they intended the money to be used for and said whatever was needed. We sensed God was saying the time had come to have a running van again (ours has been out of commission for several months now) and He seemed to be impressing us to utilize the money in such a way that we'd have two instead of one.

So we started looking for vans and quickly realized we were going to need to travel to a place like Bangkok so we had options and could comparison shop while praying for God to give us discernment. So this past Monday, Robbie, Nik and I packed a bag each and headed to Bangkok with only one van lined up to look at.

What happened over the next few days was God clearly answering our prayer that He would firmly close doors we shouldn't walk through because we wanted to be so careful with the money entrusted to us. We didn't want to end up with a lemon ... or worse, TWO lemons. Several times we thought we'd found a good option only for Him to make it very clear our human reasoning was faulty.

We left home not exactly sure when we'd return and two days into the effort, we had what felt like nothing to show for it. No van, no prospects.

We suddenly realized God seemed to be leading us to change slightly what we were looking for since our target vehicle was out of our price range if we wanted decent mileage and evidence that the vehicle had been well-maintained. We researched and then did a quick search for vans matching this new criteria. We quickly had some options and then needed to determine if we were hearing God or our own ideas.

It was past 6 in the evening and we were headed to find something to eat when I got a response from a dealer regarding a van I'd enquired about. He said the van was available and they'd stay open until we got there to have a look. It turned out to be in the same direction we were going to eat. We were continually praying for God to lead and this new turn of events seemed to indicate He was. But human thinking is very loud so we were cautious, wanting to be sure.

We arrived and inspected and test drove the van. We were delighted to find it was a 16 passenger rather than only seating 12. It was in excellent condition and ran smoothly. But the part that was the most compelling evidence that we were on the right track was that I was able to have an intelligent, fluid conversation with the salesman and his wife, about vehicles and paperwork and registration and all sort of things I don't naturally have the Thai vocabulary for. I was hearing myself talking in sentences that were much more smooth than is my norm. I was listening and realizing I understood what they were saying, even though I'd never heard a great number of the words before. I didn't have to use the translator at all.

Suddenly, I started to doubt. Not because the van was very large and very white. (I preferred just about any color available over white) But what if I only thought I was understanding all the words that were flowing at me? So I pulled out my phone and typed up a summary of what I thought they were saying and they confirmed it was all correct.

There's no reason I should have been able to fluidly communicate with them and yet, I could. It was God offering us the gift of right words and understanding. And nothing could have been more convincing (at least for me) than that. If this van breaks down tomorrow, and everyone and their brother's uncle says we made a bad purchase, I'll have peace that for some reason He led us this way, even if it makes no sense to anyone.

Also, I don't expect that's going to happen.

The following morning we returned to the dealer to solidify the purchase and then we commenced the search for a second van. Responses from dealers were slow and the car lots we pulled onto at random didn't have what we were in search of. Finally, just after we'd eaten lunch, I heard from a place that had a number of vans fitting our criteria and within our budget. It was an hour away and Bangkok is nothing if it's not traffick-y. But we arrived around 2pm and started to look the options over. Eventually we did some test driving and we all agreed God was leading us to this second white van, a few years newer than the first one and 12 passenger instead of 16.

We paid for both vans in full, and got both vehicles registered in Robbie's name, all within hours. The next morning we started the long trip back home. Both handled the trip perfectly.

The new vans parked in Bangkok after the purchases of both were finalized

Here's the fun part: we set out hoping and praying for two 12-passenger vans, having been told it would be almost impossible to get anything larger in our price range. We have 24 Thai children on the property and we came home with seats enough for 28 people. If we'd have just gotten two 12 passenger vans, one of the kids would have also had to be the driver in each vehicle if we wanted everyone to have a seat belted seat, which was part of our prayer request. As it turns out, a real and truly adult can now drive each van with every child securely buckled. (For those of you reading this who don't know us, I promise we wouldn't have let a child drive.)

In all our time in Thailand, this has NEVER been our reality.

Like most twins, you can find differences when you look for them :)

I could not be more thankful for the ways people are so gracious with their money and share to meet our needs, big and small. In this case, thank you Janelle and family!!! I could not be more thankful for the God who puts our family, and these beautiful children, on the hearts of people who can help meet the financial demand here. And I could not be more thankful for the twin vans now sitting in our carport.

Even though they're BOTH white!