Blessing a soldier with a car

Ok, for those of you who have been following this super exciting "find the mystery soldier" story, here is the final stretch of how we FOUND HIM this afternoon! Truly, I believe the hand of God is in this. There is no other explanation for the events that have happened thus far. If you're just now learning about this story, here is a brief update in a nutshell....on Wednesday morning, I was feeling sorry for our "junk car" that we have been driving and I went to Quick Trip to get gas. While there, I saw a soldier, in uniform, working on his car that was a bazillion times more junky than ours! I snapped a pic of it (which you can see further down in my timeline) and began figuring out what I should do with the situation. It was just very convicting for me since Veteran's Day is this coming Tuesday and I never seem to really do anything for it. So, I had a crazy idea to post the pic I took on fb to see if anyone wanted to "go in with me" in trying to find this soldier and provide him with funds or gift cards or something to go toward car repair or maintenance. What I did not expect was the OVERWHELMING response from everyone who said they were in!! That set us on a manhunt to find this guy, based only on a blurry picture of his car and the backside of him bent over under the hood. We have put the word out EVERYWHERE, and Ryan and I have prayed super hard that God would lead us to him. It seems like a bit of a long shot, but we thought we had to try. So, as of this morning, we had not found him. The rest of this post outlines the outrageous adventure today that led us to him. So grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and enjoy this amazing story! So, Ryan went into Quik Trip this morning after dropping Myles off at pre-school. He asked for the manager and brought the manager up to speed on the situation and the fact that we are desperately looking for this person. He told the whole story in so much detail that it basically shut down Quik Trip as customers and employees alike gathered around him, listening intently and asking how they could help. Ryan gave out his phone number and shared the blurry picture with everyone there. The QT staff was amazing saying that they would look out for him and that they would even do a bit of research on their own to see if they could figure out who he was. So, Ryan went about his day and the QT folks said they would check in later either way. QT called a bit later saying, nothing yet, but that they were still "working on it." The staff at QT were also kind enough to offer to share it out on their facebook pages (just like many of you have)! Then, it happened. Mid-afternoon, Ryan's phone got a text message from QT. One of the QT employee's friends had seen her fb post and had spotted the car driving around the northland of KC. She was on the phone with her as she followed the car through a bank area and then into the lot of a local apartment complex. The QT employee said she was going to be off work 5 minutes later and that she was going to go over to the apartment complex lot to see if the car was there. She contacted Ryan about 10 minutes later and said that she was in the lot, but there was no car matching that description. Either it had not really turned in there like her friend thought it did or it had left again. Bummer. Meanwhile, Ryan went about his day, but about 30 minutes later, Ryan said that he had this indescribable urging from God to drive to that apartment complex lot himself and just check it out. He pulled into the lot and right there, about 8 cars down the row, was the EXACT car matching the description. He said his heart was beating so fast!!! About that time, a couple came walking out of the apartment complex. Ryan asked if they knew whose car the vehicle was, and they said it was theirs. WHAT?!!! Ryan then went into the now super long story about how many, many people have been looking for this car and for him. He told them every last detail and tears were everywhere. The soldier explained that he really needed a different car, but that he just did not have the extra funds right now for one. They questioned why anyone would take the time and energy to do this. Ryan was specific to specifically state that "When the Lord prompts you to serve some one, you yield to that." And that has not been just Ryan and I. It has been all of YOU who have felt compelled to not just sit on the sidelines, but to DO SOMETHING when a need is presented. You all have energized us to keep this movement to find him going. It is our true prayer that this couple will experience the love of God through all of you as we now work to collect the funds to help them better maintain, or upgrade their car into something fit for someone serving our country in the most humble way daily. I have to believe that the unique details of the last few days with this situation are orchestrated by none other than God alone. Ryan and I have both felt as though God is just using us (and all of you) as vessels to accomplish His purpose. I pray that even more than a car upgrade or donation, that this couple will experience the love of God in a powerful way. We have planned to take them out to dinner on Tuesday night, and I am so excited. It truly will be the most meaningful Veteran's Day that I have ever had. And, now we move forward with the enormous task of collecting all the funds that we can for this amazing soldier so that he can repair (or hopefully upgrade) his vehicle, depending on how much we can collect. If you message me, I will send you a mailing address for collecting funds for them. It may be too hard to get all of this collected by Tuesday evening, which is Veteran's Day, but let's see how much we can get by then...and then we can keep it trickling in. Thanks so much to all who have followed this amazing story so far and who have shared it and who have believed that we could find him! You all have inspired me beyond words.