TESTIMONY TUESDAY and CRAZY God story!

So, you may recall our eventful trip to Lancaster, PA two weeks ago, where my Cadilllac SRX broke down a mile from our AirBNB.
She was NOT drivable due to some loud “clunking” in the rear end, so I called AAA to have her towed to the nearest Cadillac dealership. There was a factory recall on the rear tow link, and one of the issues that it has if it goes out was clunking in the rear end, so I prayed it was that!
Well… it wasn’t.
After the dealership looked at it, they called to tell me about the driveshaft gone bad due to the bushing falling out, which was causing the clunking. But then he told me that my car was not worth saving, because there is so much rust underneath. He claimed it was so bad, that it was literally crumbling at every lift point, and he didn’t even “feel comfortable having his mechanics under it”. He basically said that the cost of all the repairs superseded the value of the car, and they wouldn’t be fixing it.
Well, understandably I was quite surprised, and quite upset. I still owe about $9,000 on it, and now I don’t have a car to even show for it!
The dealership agreed to keep it on the lot for up to a few weeks while I figured it all out.
So Gia, her sister Grace and my nephew Javier all piled into Grace’s tiny Toyota Corolla, packed to the brim with all of our things and drove back to Buffalo a day early, so that Grace and Javier could get back home to Michigan on time.
It took me a few days to clear my head and figure out next steps. My mechanic that I trust completely who has worked on my cars for years said that there is no way my Caddy was that bad. Gia’s good friend who is a mechanic reached out to me and said the same thing- and he hadn’t even seen the car in person!
Something wasn’t right.
I decided to reach out to the car dealership where I got it from via email, and let them know what this other dealership said about the rust and value of the vehicle, and that there is no way that the rust got that bad in the 3 years that I owned it.
I also shared with my church family this crazy story, for prayers and suggestions as well… plenty of prayer warriors in the KBC family.
Here’s where it gets CRAZY!
The church sent out an email to everyone associated with the church late Wednesday 4/2, and on Thursday, 4/3, I got a text from someone who received the email. On Wednesday night, they were up wrestling with the Lord and studying some powerful verses, and had quite an experience in God’s presence. After this intense session, this person checked their email and saw the plea for prayers and help for our car situation.
They knew they needed to help, and reached out to me. “I know I am supposed to help you- so what do you need?” At the time, what I really needed was the loan paid off, because I didn’t want to be drowning in debt with 2 car notes and didn’t have much of a choice! I told them what I owe, and they said, “well, I don’t have $9k, but I do have an envelope with $2150 in it for you.”
What?! Wow! Tears of gratitude began to flow- what a great start to solving this problem we had!
Then on Friday, the GM of the dealership reached back out to me, and we agreed to speak on Saturday morning. He apologized profusely, and couldn’t imagine that the Cadillac was that bad either! It actually was traded in by a family friend, and he knew it was in great shape when they got it, so it didn’t make sense.
So he said, “I am going to send my flatbed to Lancaster to go pick it up so we can look at it.” An 8 hour round trip, at no cost to me!
WOW! Another blessing.
We continued to pray…. And me being the “fix it now” guy that I am, I was trying hard to figure out what to do. God just said, “wait!” I was looking at cheap used cars, and God said, “wait!” I talked to my Dad about it, and he insisted that I “wait on the Lord!”
And because pastors often preach to themselves, on Sunday the 6th, I preached on “waiting on the Lord!”
We had my parents over for lunch to celebrate Abby’s birthday after church, and my mom said, “I really want to help you, but God said no- it’s already been handled!”
Waiting…. Waiting… ok Lord, I get the message!
It’s completely out of my control, and it was from the moment we had to leave it in Pennsylvania- so we had no choice but to trust God!
On Monday, I get a call from the GM of my dealership- and he asks if he could FaceTime me. Y’all, he FaceTimed me from UNDERNEATH MY CAR while it was in the air! (No crumbling, no unsafe conditions, no problem with rust!) He said, “Brian, your car has no more rust then any other car that has lived in Buffalo, NY for 13 years. It is not bad at all, it will pass NY and PA inspections. You need a new driveshaft, which I think is about $1500, and then your car will be fine. It’s safe, and it’s not worth totaling out!”
WOW!
He then said, “let me look up all the prices, and I’ll call you back”.
He calls back in about 20 minutes and said, “so I told you a less then it actually is, the part is $1800, so with labor the total will come to $2052.”
Wait, what?! The Lord blessed us with $2150 5 days before…. And now we know why we needed to wait on the Lord!
I turned in my plates when I got back to NY since I thought my car was going to the junk yard, so take the cost of the repair and registration, and it comes in just under $2150!!!!
LOOK AT GOD!
Warren Midtown Motors Incorporated fixed my Cadillac, AND delivered it right to by driveway this afternoon!!!
I am so BLOWN AWAY by the goodness and faithfulness of our God! This all happened in such a way that there can be NO DOUBT that God was in complete control the entire time, and that He ALWAYS takes care of His kids!
If it would have broke down here in Buffalo, I wouldn’t have experienced this. If I didn’t have to walk away from what I thought I had to do because I had no other choice, I wouldn’t have relied on God.
He made it so…. And now I get to share this powerful story and testimony to let the world know how INCREDIBLE and FAITHFUL He is!
Thank you all for your prayers, love and support through the last 2 weeks, and I pray that this testimony bolsters YOUR faith, and reminds you that God has ALWAYS got your back!

And if you need a new or used car, Midtown Motors in Warren, PA should be your first option! Over the top customer care and concern; this only came to fruition due to their incredible work and dedication!

Much love to you all…. Be blessed!

#beMORE #doMORE #inHIM