Car Saga Up and Downs

As we mentioned in the first post of our car “saga” we’re committed to trying to live at the same pace as our partners as much as possible. And so a big question we’ve been wrestling with is what does this mean for us in getting a car, even though not all pastors/leaders have one. We decided not to get a huge white SUV (good and necessary for some workers, but we’ve seen it as somewhat symbolically equivalent to presumptuously riding into town on a white horse). But then we’ve gone through the frustration of pretty regular car problems with parts breaking. We would have never expected the experience of helplessness of breaking down with a car full of family closer to the border than we intended on being, or breaking down on a street near our house and having to leave the car in the road for people to go around for a few hours, or having the bumpers fall off in front of all our neighbors! And also experiencing the less-rational feeling of wishing you had a big 4x4 so you could drive on rough tracks across the desert in case of a needed escape from unknown danger.

We know we are not "just like" those we’re serving with, and will never be just like them as we inevitably have different problems and factors to consider in our lives. But experiencing these things definitely gives us more empathy for their situations, and what they might go through when they’re lacking resources or seeing others who seem to have unlimited resources to burn. Hopefully we can see them more as brothers and sisters as we rely on the same savior who identifies with us. With that in mind, having a car so far has made some things so much more convenient, but we want to make sure we are good and sharing stewards of the blessing we’re able to have. And we need to make more effort to ensure we don’t stop walking places either, because we know that helps to build relationships with the people around us as we get to greet and share more with them.