A Tale of Two Vans

Once upon a time there was family that was growing and they were able to purchase a mini-van. What joy to have all that space after being squeezed into a tiny Ford Escort. But, the mini-van played them false, and even though it was a Honda, it gave them nothing but grief. The family was very glad they had purchased the extended warranty, for repairs were needed time and time again.

Then, a much loved mini-van, whose owners didn't want to scrap it and had lovingly named it "The White Knight", was offered to the family. It needed a new air conditioner, but had already had its transmission replaced and the family gladly welcomed it into their home and had it's air conditioning repaired.

Shortly thereafter, the Honda grew jealous of the new van and decided it wanted a new transmission, also. But, it didn't time its revenge well and there were still 2000 miles left before the extended warranty expired. The White Knight came to the rescue during the time the Honda was being repaired.

But, the poor Knight worked so hard that the very next day after the Honda came home, its transmission got sick. Even though it was out of its warranty for its second transmission, the shop was kind enough to repair it for a nominal transmission service charge.

The Honda gloated.

But once the White Knight returned, the Honda grew jealous again. It didn't even have a cool name. It planned its next attack. It waited until it was 1000 miles out of warranty. It wanted a new air conditioner, too. The White Knight had waited until winter to need it's a.c., but the revengeful Honda, chose the heat of a Texas summer while its master was driving home from work.

Perhaps the family needs to appreciate the Honda and give it a name, but they are seriously thinking it is time to part ways. But don't mention this to the Honda. It's at the shop and we will try to make our decision before it returns.

Broken Glass Theology

I should know after all these years to not put dishes away when I first get up and haven't had a cup of coffee but I haven't learned. I thought the glass was on the shelf but it wasn't and it started to fall and I grabbed for it and it hit the edge of the shelf beneath and shattered.

Broken glass is a reminder that you need to clean all kinds of places you haven't thought of or cared about for a long time. We also know that through some incredible law of physics, glass travels great distances and into spots you never would have thought.

So, how does this relate to my spiritual life? Well, there are certainly areas that I choose to overlook that have gotten "dirty" or need come cleaning up. The flip side is how do my words and actions (thoughts,too) travel much further than I imagine?

The mercy of it is that that goes not only for my sinful words and actions but for those seasoned with grace.

Thanks for the broken glass, Lord.

More Wedding Stuff

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captured these from Sherry's Kodak Gallery. I really appreciate people who are willing to be in weddings. Think about it- you are asking them to shell out gobs of money to participate in something that last very briefly so that you can have nice pictures. But what photogenic kids they are!