An Undeserved Blessing

I can't hold it in any more.....we are going to the beach in our "new" van. Actually it's a 2006 Toyota Sienna. This is just such a long story. Our van was a 1998 Nissan Quest with 137,000 miles on it. It was pretty beat up, but running fine. We decided we would like to exchange the van, and get rid of our beat up truck. (we're still working on that part). Last week, we looked at a 2002 Toyota Sienna and we talked to the guy, but he made us mad and we left. I realize that you don't always see eye to eye with a salesman, but he got a little rude toward the end, and believe it or not, I was getting upset with him. He was insulting us, so needless to say, we didn't get that van. We saw another van (this van) in Clayton. We met with the dealer and talked to her in detail on Monday night. We put the lady on hold and told her we needed another day to think about it. Well, Tuesday night at 10 pm, Jack comes up with this idea that maybe we should explore a brand new van. He called Wednesday morning, and I ended up going without him to negotiate. I couldn't believe I was doing this!! Well, a foreign couple got there before me, maybe by 10 minutes. They got the van that I wanted (it was on clearance). When the man got to me, I told him I wanted their van. He tried to make a deal with me. I called Jack and he was in the middle of a conference call. Basically, he left it up to me to deal with the guy. The man came back and I told him this is my offer. He said "Thanks for coming in, let me get your Nissan keys so you can be on your way". Well, that took 10 minutes and then he came back with his manager and he tried to deal. He went back one more time and then he said " if I give you this, will you walk out of here with the van?". I told him yes, he would have a sale. Well, he came back, gave me 0% financing, but upped the price!!! I told him I wasn't playing games, he knew what it was going to take to make the sale, and told him "thank you anyway". The man did not believe that another dealership was holding a van for us. I felt really sad that we didn't get it, but I was more PROUD of myself for sticking to my guns and standing up to these salesmen. I mean Jack left it open for me, and I could have just settled on a price and walked out with a brand new van, no matter how much it cost me. He trusted me to use my judgement knowing how much I really wanted something brnad new. I can stand my ground if I have too!!! Anyway, I waited around Wednesday just in case they would call back. I finally went and got the 2006, and low and behold, the deal did not go through for this foreign couple. Too late!! The guy could not believe I had already gotten an van, and begged that we would come back!! I was sad that we lost it, but Jack said that this was the van we were supposed to have, and that God sent this foreign couple to block the sale. Poor salesman, he had two sales that day and lost them both!!! Anyway, the 2006 is a basic model, not a lot of bells and whistles, but it has 21,500 miles on it and A LOT OF ROOM!! Plus it has two doors now!! Yipee.....and you know the McLean's.....we drive our vehicles to the ground!!! God truly is good. And thanks to God's goodness, and the wisdom of Jack, we are still debt free other than our mortgage. I'll post again tomorrow morning because I'll be lost without blogging Monday-Wednesday!! It's like my therapy now!!