Shamgar and the Old Blue Van

Shamgar was one of the judges in the Bible.  He didn’t have a sword or a spear or a bow with arrows, he only had an ox goad - a sharpened pole about eight feet long.  I suppose you could say that Shamgar was one of the first ninja warriors.  He didn’t have much, but he used what he did have to great effect.  Which leads me to my story for today.  Our church had an old blue van that we used to bring boys and girls to church.  The kids were hard on the van which was already old when we bought it.  One Sunday a boy got off the old blue van and slammed the sliding side door so hard that it fell off.  The remaining children laughed and laughed.  Captain Kirk, (so they called Kirk A. who drove the van) had the last laugh.  Without the sliding door working, now the kids had to come in the front door and climb over the engine cowling to get into the back of the van.  About two months ago, the old blue van wouldn’t start for the last time, so we were in the market for a newer van.  One month ago, my mechanic showed me a van on his lot and asked me if I needed a van to carry my tools in.  I said, “No, but our church needs a van.”  The mechanic, John M. said he thought that the church who owned the van would want about $3500 for it.  He offered to contact the pastor.  The next day John called me and said that the pastor had said that since it was for a church, they would give it to us for free.  What a blessing!  We have the van in our parking lot, and we are getting the title transferred and license plates and …  in a few weeks, the van will be picking up boys and girls for church.  Judges 3:31, “And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.”  Shamgar used what he had, and we used what we had: the old blue van.  And in each case, the Lord took care of the rest.