The story...
I bought a new black Datsun 310 in 1981. My best friend and his wife were my first riders. He stepped in some kind of grease before sitting in the car - the 6" grease spot stayed on the carpet until the day I sold it.
Then, you could drive fast in Tennessee without the worry of a speeding ticket. When the car was a couple months old, I hit a guardrail while joy riding - the dented-rear fender stayed on the car until the day I sold it.
I moved the car to Ohio and Michigan before finally selling it - bought a new red Honda. Years later, I found that Datsun in a junk yard, the greased-stained carpet and dented fender were still there - evidence.
I try and sometimes make mistakes. I want to be accepted and loved by other people. Yet, they sometimes reject me or demean me by making light of me or my accomplishments - wounded pride. In close relationships, I show my flaws and risk being hurt. I can either hide my dents and stains or I can fully place my value in my relationship with my Creator - the only place where I must be truly okay. He loves me just the way I am because He redeemed me - I'm His in Christ. Scripture, my life walk, and His Spirit at work in me, confirm that I'm right with Him - even with my dents and stains.
I've skills and abilities yet I'm incomplete - I need our Creator and the group to walk through life rightly. You can find a flawed, yet redeemed, group like that within the only church in town - show up.
Just for today...
"The world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles . . . only by a spiritual journey . . . by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home." Wendell Berry
"My self-esteem diminished whenever I made a mistake, didn't know something I was expected to know, did something wrong, or when something I unintentionally did or said ended up hurting someone . . . I believed my mistakes were proof of my failure at the one thing I was supposed to accomplish - perfection." Hope for Today (p. 152)
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