Good Deal! Great Blessing!

      Lord willing, we will grow out of our mini van by the end of the summer. As we were approaching this new child's birthday, we have been watching for a larger van. We did not know exactly what the Lord would provide, but we felt strongly that it would be inexpensive.



       We spent a lot of time on craigslist and ebay. We watched for 12 and 15 passenger vans in our area. We considered vehicles with minor collisions. We considered cargo vans without any seats. All of them seemed overpriced.
          My stepfather introduced us to government auctions at www.govdeals.com. Here we found vans and buses. After watching for several weeks, we finally landed a 15 passenger van for $1,675. It was used as a  transport vehicle for prisoners in Indiana.(We got a few laughs out of the cage and the rear passenger door does not open from the inside.)  It is a 1999 model but only has 105,000 miles on it.
       The cons of having to drive 4 hours to get it, having to make minor repairs in the parking lot, and the fact that it has some minor rust issues, were very acceptable. A comparable vehicle in our area would have been valued at $3,500 to $4,500. Indeed, when we went to register the vehicle the state required confirmation from Indiana that we truly did buy it at $1,675 as the book value is $3,900.
         All in all, I feel the Lord provided yet again. Praise God! With this big purchase out of the way our family can begin to prepare for this birth and life after!