The Burnt Offering

One of our more dramatic family stories was the sudden demise of our dream car - the beautiful blue Audi. We had shopped long for that special car ( a sort of compromise between a Porsche and a big family car ). However it was not long before it started having some mechanical problems, not to mention that I had to get used to a stick shift again. It still seemed like a good car, though, until that fateful Sunday afternoon as we were rounding the curve on the north side of Magnolia, Arkansas, headed home, and smoke started blowing out of the air conditioner vents. Gerry pulled onto the shoulder, and we got David and Jonathan out as the smoke intensified. He quickly got a fire extinguisher out of the trunk and opened the firey hood to find out that the extinguisher did not work. Upon opening the car door to grab some things (like his billfold), he discovered flames spreading so quickly that he shut that door. He motioned for us to walk down the highway some and then quickly threw some things out of the trunk (all my baby clothes were in there as we were getting them back as Daniel was on the way). I'll never forget how sad it was to see that car sink to the ground as the tires blew, flash its lights and then wave its windshield wipers as a parting gesture. The flames were leaping pretty high as a fire engine showed up.  After putting out the fire, they gave us a ride to the fire station, where we called Mamaw and Papaw for rescue. They came with Uncle David. We drove back to the scene and Papaw picked up a bible that was mostly burned on the side of the road. It was open to Leviticus to a portion describing how to do the burnt sacrifices. I remember noticing the part about burning the fat.

It did amaze us how God blessed the recovery from the fire. The only real upsetting thing was the loss of David's blanket, Gerry's glasses (he had on prescription sunglasses) and some time involved. Half of Gerry's billfold survived, so the bank in ElDorado replaced the money. My dear brother took us home and the insurance replaced almost everything in the car in new condition (the library said not to worry about the books). Then we did end up getting our first van. It was that cute short blue one with the curtains on the windows. I like to think that was the car we really needed.