I met Mercy

Man it's been a LOOOONG time since my last blog...

but I had a life experience that just keeps ringing inside of me and I wanted to write it down....


We recently moved to California, Sacramento that is. Through the process of getting all of our papers we found out that my Nevada registration for my Honda Pilot was up in May and we just moved to Sacramento in the very beginning of May. I had purchased the car in end of April/May of last year. We didn't really know the exact dates and didn't think it mattered much.

So this meant that I had to tackle the DMV in the first week of moving into a new city...FUN...and with 3 kids....FUNNER!!!...

Visit #1
So my husband was able to go with me...thank you so much my love!...he goes in with all of our paperwork and the gentleman tells him that since it has been less then a year since we purchased my Pilot according to the dates on our application that we would have to pay California taxes on it... I know I know, we purchased it in Nevada.. doesn't matter....don't get me started....and to top it off, the amount we would have to pay was 1600$$$...Yes sixteen hundred dollars...that's not a typo. So he suggested we wait a week past the purchased date of the Pilot which was a mere 7 days. As the law was a purchase within a year. Great!!! AMEN Hallelujah!!!

Visit #2
I go in and register my Pilot with no problem. I pay a normal registration fee.. thank you man in visit #1..

We get a DMV letter in the mail and we wait to open it after memorial day cause we were out of town. We open it Monday and there is our original dmv application and the Pilot's registration with a big piece of paper on it saying we do in fact owe $1600. Shocked and dismayed we make another appointment at the DMV in a week...It's as clear as day on the piece of paper, we HAVE to pay 1600$ to register my car in Cali. Even though we do our very best to save, live within our means, and pay everything with cash we don't really have 1600$ that we can just throw at the DMV. Andy and I are having trouble sleeping trying to think of how we will have to pay this! How in our means are we going to do this!! The day comes and we go in. We've been praying for favor like crazy and I'm proclaiming Scripture outloud in the car and flinging my arms in the air like some mad driver while praying about the situation. (yah my kids already know I can be a little crazy, just a little)

Visit #3. We descend into the DMV with our 3 kids in tow. Now I'm glad that we have to take all the kids inside so that the clerk will see how many moths we have to feed and that we aren't rolling in an extra 1600$ that we can give the bankrupt state of California to drive my car! Andy goes to the info clerk and she asks why we're there. He tells her and she straight up yells at him "those are the taxes! you HAVE to pay them!" so he appeals to talk to a registration clerk. We wait a little while and I'm sweating and trying not to cry. We get up to the 2nd clerk and he says the same thing "that's what due" and looks at us like what's the problem, pay us 1600$$??? I say it's just the date on the application is wrong. It's a week off! you're going to make us pay that for a week and Andy says something similar. "YEP" he chirps doesn't even blink an eye and the both of us start talking all at once and he holds up his hands and says something about not shooting the messenger. Tells us to go to another counter and wait for another clerk.

We're standing in line again and I start to break down and cry "how are we going to pay this! Why Why??" It was Andy's finest moment as he tells me that we can do this that this fee, will work out even if we have to pay it..gulp. His words help me pull myself to together. We get to the lady at the counter and she's very nice and is horrified that we got a bill for 1600$ ( Thank you Jesus!!!). She said the law was for 90 days not a year since the purchase of a vehicle. so she sets the registration on the counter and says she's just going to verify with her supervisor so that this won't happen again. Andy jokingly suggest we take the registration and run but I'm sure they have security guards that would hunt us down in the parking lot! She comes back a few minutes later and looks sad....We start sweating again. Well she said, they changed the law and it is indeed within a year of purchasing a vehicle and moving to California that you have to pay the difference in the percentage of taxes. Ex: paid 5% tax in New York, move to Cali, they have a 6% tax, you have to pay the difference. Stupid...whatever...

She hands us a new application for registration and points out that some of the dates on our original application were wrong. We should changed them. So Andy fills out another one with the right dates. The wave of relief was so enormous and gratitude like I've never felt. This gal took the time to listen and not just jump to a conclusion and was an advocate for us. I thought...now I have a clearer picture of what Jesus did for me when he took my debt (more then 1600$$$) and made a way for me to not have to pay it

Andy and I call her the Mercy Clerk. Who would have thought we would meet Mercy at the DMV

My first time ever blog! I'm so excited!

I post things and stuff about my life here I guess.