A Dreamy Birthday, Part II

On Sunday morning, it was time for another birthday gift for Matthew!  I couldn't wait to give him this one, especially considering all that had transpired the day before.  Sunday morning's gift was a BMW "M" logo key chain! 

Ironically, I had ordered this key chain from Amazon to give to Matthew for his birthday, having no idea that it would be put to use so quickly!  It turned out to be the perfect gift for Sunday!  And it was made with carbon fiber, which just happened to be the trim in the interior of the car!  God is so cool!

Well, talking about it a lot the night before and after receiving this gift, I think Matthew finally conceded that he needed to buy this car...and he wouldn't have to go to REI and buy a tent first!

So, later in the day, we went back up to CarMax, and believe it or not, beating the odds and acting against his instinct to not spend money, he actually pulled the trigger!  Yay!!

Here's a pic of Matthew getting the deal done! :)

Getting it done!

And here's the official hand-off:

I think I was more excited about it than he was!  He was just in that surreal, dreamlike state of "this can't really be happening" while I was having this very cool experience of witnessing someone I care about realizing a dream he's had for YEARS!

Here are some fun videos of his first few moments behind the wheel of his Dream Car...

Reality check:  WHO'S M3 is this??!!

Driving it off the lot:

We soon realized that we had entered a whole new "club" when, on the way home:
     1) a Porsche Carerra S drove by and waved (!!!), and
     2) a Mercedes C63 AMG ("The Competition") drove by "to say Hi..." 

I think that's when we thought...boy is this gonna be one fun ride!

Some of you have already had a chance to meet the new Bengal Tiger...we've even named her "Kitty."  If you haven't yet, you're in for a treat when you finally do.

Here's another video of Matthew enjoying his First Ride, and getting lost!

For many years, Matthew had dreamed of owning an M3. In fact, he's talked about it at least a gazillion times just since I met him! :)  Sometime last year he discovered he could actually, finally afford one. 

I think it's amazing how God orchestrated this whole experience.  Matthew kept having this feeling that God was telling him to "wait until Spring," and he kept wondering what that meant.  Can we say "best birthday present ever?!!"  We couldn't have imagined a better way ourselves.  And from my perspective of this experience, I discovered that there is so much joy in encouraging someone who is so close to realizing a dream and just how awesome it is to witness that dream transforming into reality.

In this last video, Matthew reflects on realizing a dream:

Interestingly, here we are over a month later, and would you believe Matthew NEVER experienced "buyer's remorse?!"  He's been taking her to work everyday, discovering at least one new feature about her daily, and the newness is far from wearing off.  In fact, I think he still finds it hard to believe that he owns an M3...

Congratulations Matthew!  May the thrill and awesomeness of driving this car never get old.  And may you find it in your heart to let me drive it someday...please? :)