“They’re Only Things”
A Day I Will Never Forget
A Little Blue VW Beetle name Pewi
My very first car was a blue VW Beetle with a manual gear stick. I paid $800 for it in 1980. The number plate was PEW145, so we nicknamed her Pewi, which was very apt, as she took off with a little puff of smoke. She was an amazing little car, and driving gave me a wonderful sense of freedom.
In those days there was a paper called The Trading Post. It was a printed newspaper used for buying and selling things like cars, furniture and just about anything else. The digital version of that today would be Marketplace or eBay.
One day the paper advertised a blue Beetle for $800 in the suburb of Maroubra. I picked it up on the Saturday, went home, and tried to ring the insurance company to get a cover note. Somehow I couldn't get through, and I decided to drive it the next day with no insurance.
EEK!
I Couldn’t Contain My excitement
I drove it to church the next day, full of excitement. I asked my friends to pray for me, for my car, and for protection. Then I headed off to buy a little treat to take to my sister's for lunch.
That Day will Be Indelibly Imprinted In My Memory Forever
I found a parking spot just outside the shop I needed to visit. As I reversed, or at least thought I was in reverse, I was actually in neutral. Before I knew it, I was rolling forward with the side of my car going...
Crick... crick... crick... crick...
Oh no!
My heart was in my throat.
I got out and saw that the whole side of my new acquisition had a huge scrape and a massive dent along the side of my car, and I'd left a trail of blue paint down the side of the car in front of me.
How could this be?
We had just prayed for my protection, and here I was, on the very first day, facing the possibility of paying for damage that I simply couldn't afford.
Was It An Angel?
Then, in the very next moment, a very handsome man with long hair came out of the shop. He looked at his car, looked right at me, and said,
"You've done more damage to your own car than you've done to mine. That's why I buy bombs."
He got back in his car and drove away.
As the years have gone by, I've realised the magnitude of that moment.
Looking back, I believe I was incredibly protected by the Lord. I still see it as a miracle, and I've often wondered...
Had I encountered an angel?
Years later, I can see God's hand in that day more clearly and His protection in a mighty way. That sort of thing is not normal behaviour. I don't know who that kind stranger was, and I'll probably never know this side of eternity, but I do know this: God is faithful and I believe with all my heart that there are angels among us.
The Psalmist writes,
"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." (Psalm 34:7)
But Wait There’s More
The lessons did not end there. I went to my sister's place for lunch, and as I was washing up afterwards, I broke her glass salad servers.
That sent me into complete hysterics.
I cried and cried, heaving with sobs, and in the most melodramatic way possible… I declared,
"Everything I touch, I break."
She simply held me and said,
"Darling... they're only things."
I've never forgotten her words of love and wisdom, and those words have stayed with me all these years later and have helped me hold onto things very loosely.
(I guess that’s why I love to declutter and give things away.)
It was a powerful lesson as it can be too easy to become attached to things.
Our possessions can cause us to become incredibly overwhelmed. We can become attached to what we have, or anxious about what we don't have. Things can consume our thoughts far more than they should.
But in the end...
They're only things.
They don't define us.
They don't determine our worth.
They don't make up the whole person.
Pewi’s Life lessons
Interestingly I realise that that encounter taught me far more than how to drive a manual. It taught me about:
God's protection,
about keeping life in perspective, and about remembering that while things may be damaged, broken or lost, people are infinitely more valuable.
What Do We Carry?
It also makes me wonder...
What do we carry that was never meant to define us?
Maybe you're carrying disappointment, fear, self-doubt, unhealthy habits, clutter, difficult relationships, or simply the weight of trying to hold everything together.
I know with everything within me that the Lord wants us to be free, and in many situations we experience in life, He uses them to shape us and draw us closer to Him.
Sometimes all it takes is someone to walk alongside us, ask the right questions, speak with kindness, and lovingly remind us of what really matters.
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