As many of my “old-time” readers know, about a year and a half ago, the Lord provided me with a new truck, Tonka 02. Tonka 01 had run 400,000 miles and the little rust devils were no longer holding hands! (g)

The new truck came with a 36,000, 3 year “bumper to bumper” warranty. Sure enough, one day a turn signal bulb burned out. I called the service department to see the number of the bulb, so I could replace it. They told me to just bring it in and they’d put it in for me – you know, “bumper to bumper”. I did and they did. This really impressed me!

Well, a couple of months ago, I started hearing this EXTREMELY annoying noise when I had to use my windshield wipers. It was a chattering, rubbing sound that just about drove me up the wall. However, when it quit raining and I didn’t need the wipers, I had no noise. Therefore, I didn’t do anything to fix the problem.

Finally, remembering the “bumper to bumper” warranty, I called the dealer. This time, the answer was, “Oh, no, that’s not covered. That’s normal wear and tear.” I went back and read the warranty paper I was given. Didn’t say a thing about “normal wear and tear exclusions”. Besides, what’s the difference between a worn out turn signal bulb and a pair of windshield wiper blades when it comes to normal wear and tear?

A few days later, I was hanging out with our granddaughter, Rachael. It started raining. There was that horrible, fingernails-on-the-chalkboard sound again. We weren’t too far from a mechanic friend. I drove directly there and asked him to install some new blades. Ten dollars and about fifteen seconds put me back on the road with – you guessed it – NO NOISE. I mentally whupped myself for not taking care of it sooner. Such a dramatic difference wrought by such a small fix!

I’m always looking for incidences in my day-to-day life to share with you. I like to tell you about some of the lessons I learn from these everyday experiences. In this case, my mind took me to a passage in the Bible that talks about the little foxes destroying the vine. For most of my life, that passage didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It seemed to me that the big foxes would cause far more damage. Then, my friend, Marj, explained to me that the big foxes only eat the grapes. The little foxes, perhaps out of a sense of playfulness, chew the vines until they’ve gnawed away a complete circle around the vine. That eventually kills the vine.

Many times in my life, I’ve been confronted with enormous challenges, both personally and in our family. I’ve not only survived these things, but actually triumphed over most of them by God’s grace. It seems that it’s the little things that have given me the most trouble. Little, pesky sins; minor annoyances I’ve allowed to grow and grow into backbreaking loads. Like the problem with the wiper blades, it’s so easy to ignore little things, especially when they’re NOT bugging us. Things that, if taken care of when the symptoms first occur, can be dealt with rather easily. However, when left to grow and accumulate aggravation, we buckle under the load.

We can allow, for instance, a very minor disagreement with a family or church member to go and grow until it becomes practically unsolvable. Perhaps that’s why Jesus advised married couples to settle their differences before sunset! Almost sounds like a western movie, doesn’t it? (g) He also advised his disciples to settle differences while still in the company of the person with whom the disagreement had occurred. I’ve actually found cases in my counseling ministry where married couples had fought with each other for years and neither one of the people could even remember the origin of the disagreement! You might be saying, “how silly”! Beware the easy write-off. It happens quite frequently and is serious business, at least to the folks involved.

We try a little harder to look after our bodies. A sore, especially on a toe or finger, that doesn’t heal in the normal time sends up a little red flag. A cough that doesn’t yield to standard treatment also makes us wary and often sends us in for further investigation. Chest pains, unusual headaches, cramped muscles – all these things can drive us to see a doctor.

Can we afford to overlook the symptoms of depression, discouragement, injured relationships, etc. that impinge so strongly on our emotional, mental, and spiritual health and well-being?

Looking forward to hearing your conclusions and Life Lessons you get out of this little story. It’s amazing how easy it actually was to fix the problem and get rid of the Rub-A-Dub-Dub effect on Tonka 02. How do you find relief for small, but irritating circumstances of your life?  Use the “Leave a Reply” box below!

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