Here’s a question that comes up in my email on a regular basis. Growingfamilies looking for a vehicle that will hold a mess of kids want toknow: What do you drive?
Well, the large green van you’ll see going no faster than the speed limitaround here these days is a 12-passenger Ford Clubwagon E350. I guessthe 350 part means it’s tough enough to tow our boat, but I don’t givemuch thought to those things. I care only that the van seats 12, hasair conditioning, and has never once broken down on me.
When we bought this van 5 years ago, we had just 5 kids and a12-passenger felt like more than enough. Today, I eye those last twospare seats and wonder if we shouldn’t have gone for the 15-passenger.Even if eight kids are all God has planned for us, it’s nice, I havediscovered, to leave some space between certain ones of those eightkids. I don’t suppose I need to explain that.
Anyway, like any good van, ours is a gas-guzzler. And, like anygood van, it feels enormous in tight spots — like city streets andparking lots. But it’s ours and we love it. We have baptised it withtoddler vomit and littered it with empty juice boxes, and yet still itstarts for us on frigid winter mornings.
So, large families, small families, and everyone in between: What do you drive? And do you love it?