We got a new van! Well, not new, but new to us. It is a fifteen passenger so we actually have extra seats for a change. This was a huge, huge blessing for us. We were able to pay cash for it-another huge blessing. We had needed a second vehicle for so long now, and thought we might have to just get a smaller vehicle and take both vehicles when we needed to all go somewhere, but thankfully we were able to get this instead. It is taking a little getting used to driving. It must be similar to driving a school bus! Ha! It’s mostly with turning and backing up, but I haven’t run over any curbs so far. We bought it from a homeschooling family with eight kids, but two of theirs are college age, so they didn’t really need such a big van anymore.
I know it looks white, but it's actually silver with gray interior.
So, I was at the DMV getting some paperwork done for it and there were five women who had just been released from prison. One woman had a teardrop tattooed near her eye. They started talking to me. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to anyone who has only been released from prison the month before, but of course, we can never have a dull moment, can we? But, you know, they were nice. And friendly. One of the ladies had been locked up for 8 and a half years. They were all getting ID cards made. They were in a “re-acclimation with the outside” program or whatever you would call it. I don’t know what they were all in for. I didn’t think it would be appropriate to ask. They originally started talking to me because they wondered what number I had and how long I had been waiting, since there was already a room full of people. (A long wait at the DMV? Nooo.) I had overheard one of the women saying she was going to start praying about staying here or going back to her hometown. So, two of the women walked outside to wait, and then I asked the woman if she was going to church somewhere. She said she was, it was a church I was familiar with. So we chatted for about the next 20 minutes. She was from New York and had been locked up for 4 and a half years. She had gotten a Bible degree while in prison. She said her life had been “messed up” but He had done something inside her that has changed her. I told her that she’s exactly who He had come to help- those who were “messed up”. And we ALL need Him. We are ALL “messed up.” I told her why we had come to Oklahoma, and how God was working in our lives. She believed that we all were brought here at this time for a reason. I told her I thought so, too. They called my number and I was able to get finished with what I needed to do, I went back over and told her I enjoyed chatting with her and I wished her the best. She said the same. I think she was encouraged. I know I was.
