She's a beauty. '85 Corvette, Garnet with tan/gold interior. Just beautiful! Mike didn't realize when we bought her from a friend, that not only was she born the year I graduated from high school, she is also in the colors of my alma mater! And she is the only one who can hum without annoying him! And hum she does! When we crank her, the house vibrates...she is quite amazing. We now understand what our friend, Burt, said when he sold her to us and told us he had a love/hate relationship with her. You see, although she is beautiful, and she sounds amazing, she has issues. One morning Mike decided he would take her to town to run a few errands. On the way out of the driveway, he stopped and got out to move something from the driveway. The next thing he knew, he was chasing her to keep her from going into the street! He then realized that she refused to go into park...or reverse! Stubborn little thing! She was stuck in drive! Thus began the "hate" part of our relationship.
A little bit of diagnostic investigation helped him conclude that the transmission shift cable had snapped. Now, let me tell you that before he reached that conclusion, we had to completely rip out the dash, the steering wheel, and the console. There are LOTS of parts hidden by all that plastic!!! I now know why mechanics charge so much!
I know that anyone who knows me has got to be picking up their jaw to hear me say "we" ripped out the dash or that "we" did anything mechanically together, but life is different for me now. I've discovered new things that I enjoy. I love a good puzzle and I learn new things every time I help Mike (which usually just means handing him a screwdriver or wrench). This time, however, what I learned wasn't necessarily about cars, as much as it was about people.
You see, as beautiful as this car is and as wonderful as she sounds, Mike has known since we bought her that something wasn't right. A little skip here or a little jump there. To me, it went unnoticed but no so with him. Just like her, many times we look like we have it all together or sound like we have it all together, but we are just one shift away from snapping. To everyone else, you may look perfect...but you can hide some serious issues with a beautiful facade. But only for so long...sooner or later the "snap" will come.
My inclination when I looked around and saw the whole thing torn apart was to push her to the front yard and put a "FOR SALE" sign on her. Mike had a different idea...he was determined to fix her. He ordered all the parts needed and when they came in he spent days putting them on and adjusting them just right. I think we spent one whole day with him under the car and me inside it...shifting gears and then back to park...over and over and over. I was bored in no time, but he was determined to fix it and fix it right. That is the way God is with us. When others would be ready to slap a "FOR SALE" sign on us or maybe even just fix us enough to get by, He won't stop until the issue has been fixed. For us it is painful and it feels like we've been ripped apart at the seams. To the onlooker, our life may just look like a pile of parts...some broken, but all dismantled and seemingly junk. That is when God is doing His best work.
That sweet little Corvette is singing again now. But Mike's not done...there are parts waiting in our garage for him to replace. A little at a time. He's still working on her. Making her better. I see God doing that with me. He fixes the broken parts first, but then in order to make me better, He sometimes strips me bare again so that He can fine tune what lies beneath the facade. That's what He does with His church, too. Sometimes things are broken and need repair...and sometimes, they just need to be made better. To the untrained eye, it all looks the same...parts strewn all over the place...big mess. He sees the finished product...a beautiful, rare jewel that is to be loved and handled gently.
The next time you feel like you've been dismantled, or maybe you look at your church and see a big pile of parts that doesn't seem to work anymore, think about what God may be up to. Imagine Him as the master mechanic, working on a classic beauty...then just listen for the hum. My bet is that He won't stop until she is amazing!
