Shades of Silver...

My wife and I started talking about the possibility of us getting a new car back in 2008 while I was attending Bible college out here in Oklahoma.  I had sold my Camaro before we moved from California in order to help finance our new adventure and figured that we could share my wife’s Suburban during our temporary stay in Oklahoma.  Then after being here a few months, a new friend from school and his wife prayed and decided to give us one of their cars.

At the time it seemed like a gift from heaven and all was great for a few months until I came out after school one afternoon and discovered that the Suburban would not start… you have to understand that except for one warranty covered item during the first few months after we had purchased the truck new in 1998, that the vehicle had NEVER gone to the shop except for new tires, brake pads, oil changes and the California smog inspections.  It had been an indestructible and dependable transport for Piper and the four kids as well as for our many trailer towing vacations… and every load in-between!

But after that first episode, which turned out to be an in-tank fuel pump, it seemed like one of the two cars was down for the next two years!  So, in that state of mind we began to talk about and look at new vehicles.  I had been thinking about a sports wagon similar to the Mazda 3 hatchback and discussed it with a member of my team at work who had a similar model.  Piper and I even went out to a local dealership to check one out… and that was the plan until both of our cars went down at the same time and we had to rent a car until the Suburban was fixed…again!

Well, low and behold, it was following a snow storm in early December of 2008 and the only car that the National Rental lot had available was a bright red Mustang!  We ended up driving that car for almost a month… and fell in love with it!  From then on, the focus of my research was on Mustangs.  But… with Piper’s worsening health and the majority of our finances going in that direction… the Mustang dream… was just that… a dream… a FAITH dream.

Many years and a couple of states later, that dream began to take physical shape in the form of the 2009 Mustang GT Premium convertible that we purchased online from a specialty dealership in Richmond Virgina and had shipped to us in North Carolina in the fall of 2015.

By that time, I had seriously been researching and looking for a Mustang GT convertibles that fit my specifications, desires and requirements from all over the country for about six months.  This particular car checked all the boxes except that it had an automatic instead of a manual transmission, I wasn’t sure of the exterior color and it was a little higher than the price I had set… but it had the difficult to find red leather interior, the right rims, extremely low milage and looked like a brand-new, showroom quality car.  So, we prayed, got the okay and scooped it up!

I had never been drawn to silver colored cars, but this one was called Siver Vapor and was darker in shade in that it could almost be called grey… which is how the dealer had it marked on the key tags for the car.  And well… when the transport pulled into our apartment parking lot… any doubts instantly evaporated… to us, the car was simply gorgeous!

That car was a breath of fresh air to me in the midst of the very trying circumstances of Piper’s worsening condition and the outside influences that I had to deal with.  For us, to hop in that car and drive away with the top down… enjoying the nuances of the sounds, sights and smells of the countryside… along with the mesmerizing rumble of the twin tuned, chrome-tipped exhausts… was an experience like, as Piper had underlined in her old NAS Bible, where Peter exclaimed,

“…joy inexpressible and full of glory!” (I Peter 1:8 – NASB)

I learned a lot about the power of God’s GRACE during those days in the rural countryside of North Carolina.  I learned to forgive others and to give my frustrations and confusion to God.  I learned not to judge other’s behaviors when I really knew nothing about what was going on inside of them.

I learned to “Gird my mind for action…”  - GOD’S ACTIONS of LOVE - and to,

“Keep sober in spirit and to fix my hope (or expectations) completely on the GRACE to be brought to me at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 1:13 – NASB)

That car became a vivid example of God’s GRACE shinning forth to me as my world turned upside down.  Every time I looked at it, I was graphically reminded that God’s GRACE is not Black and White, but beautiful, shimmering metallic shades of Silver… like the silver locket that I gave as a first gift to Piper in High School some 45 years before our move across country.  My love for her and her love for me was always reflected in that locket which she wore throughout our dating and marriage days… and it always symbolized the loving and gentle GRACE of God for us… whether we deserved it at any given time or not!

In Ephesians 1: 7-8, the Apostle Paul characterized the GRACE of God and its power working in our lives and described it as,

“…the cascading riches of the superabundance of GRACE that is already powerfully working in us, releasing within us all forms of wisdom and practical understanding.” (The Passion Translation)

And so, even though we only owned that car for a relatively short period of time and decided to exchange it for a car that would fit Piper’s new custom wheelchair, it still is a living memory in my heart of the sweet, tender but yet bold and powerful GRACE of God who loves us unconditionally… and that by which I too learned, to love even the un-lovely with the unconditional love of God… in the midst of ANY circumstances that life sends our way!

Always remember… That God’s GRACE is never Black and White, but sweet, soft, forgiving, and beautiful shades of Silver!

Have a GREAT and GRACE – FILLED week!  I went out earlier this morning to quickly trim a bush and came back inside less than a ½ hour later soaked to the skin!  Whew-ee!  Welcome to a wonderful Oklahoma summer!