The cost of a blessing

We discovered this week that sometimes blessings come at a cost...literally! As we prepared to go to Idaho to see or nephew baptized we had a reoccurring problem come up with our van. For the last two months we kept smelling this burning smell. We have taken the van in a couple of times for the problem and every time we do the smell stops and they check it out only to find nothing wrong. We were planning to leave on Friday at 3pm. At 1pm I went in to town to run and errand and as I drove down the road the smell came back. I literally said this prayer in my head "please just make the smell go away, we never get to go on vacation, just let us have a good trip and not have the van break down or smell the whole way there!" As soon as I said those words I looked up to see the battery light go on. I smiled and realized that the Lord WAS answering my prayer (not the way I preferred) but it was an answer. I drove it straight to the mechanic. I walked in and they smiled (I have been there too many times in the last few months) and said "Hey Starr, what is it this time?" I told them what had happened and as soon as they came outside they knew what the problem was because they could FINALLY smell it. They did a battery test to confirm it, but the alternator was burning inside (a diode). Well, because they love me so much (or more like they are tired of seeing me) they told me they would try to track down the part and get it fixed ASAP (we told them we were getting ready to leave). Luckily a store in SF had the right alternator and within three hours they had the van fixed. The cost? $, I am not going to tell you. A lot! It was enough! Enough for us to realize we received a huge blessing. What if we had been on the road (with all the kids)? What if? What if? What if? We made it to the baptism. We had a fantastic week with the kids and cousins! Was it worth the cost? YES! We are grateful for the reminder that the Lord looks out for us and that this time the blessing came before we left and at a time we could afford to pay for it! This experience, like so many others, once again has helped us put life in perspective!