Don’t misunderstand, I’m not talking about your spouse, child, boss, parent, or special friend. I’m talking about that metal stick in your engine that allows you to see how much oil is left.

Tonka 01 taught me a lot about the importance of changing oil religiously (pardon the pun) and checking it regularly. When she had 350,000 miles on her odometer, she still used little or no oil between changes. (Tonka 01 now lives in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA with my daughter and son-in-law.) Without oil, engines don’t run very long. The parts soon overheat and melt together. We can easily end up with a very large paperweight.

Tonka 01 was specifically forbidden to drip oil on our driveway…from the first day she arrived at our home (May 12, 1984). However, she has, on several occasions, slipped up and left little oily deposits. One time, it was a seal gone bad. Another time, it was a loose gasket. Well, on a ministry trip, I noticed a hot, oily smell when we idled at a red light. On down the road, I began to see little fingers of oil creeping along the top of my hood. Upon closer inspection, there was oil everywhere in the engine compartment.

The problem turned out to be the dipstick. Over the years, the gasket at the top of the stick shrunk. Engine oil is always under pressure. The loose fit allowed oil to blow by and coat the engine compartment (and the rear window of the topper…go figure that one out!). This happened once before and was cured by the application of a simple piece of duct tape.

WHAT “LIFE LESSONS”
DID I LEARN FROM MY DIPSTICK?

• In the Bible, oil represents the Holy Spirit. He provides a hedge against undue friction and keeps us running smoothly.
• People, like Tonka, need to have plenty of oil. The oil needs to be confined to the proper area. Loss of oil will seriously affect life expectancy and performance.
• Perhaps the most important lesson is this: When pressure builds up in Tonka’s engine, it will find the path of least resistance and create a blowout, taking a lot of oil along.
• People are a little different. While we’re designed to operate with a certain amount of pressure, too much pressure will constantly seek to escape. We often lose the fruit of the Spirit as it blows.
• People often get severe headaches, ulcers, and suffer from hypertension. They angrily lose control which can lead to verbal, emotional, and physical abuse of spouses and children.
• We can’t keep pressure from happening. We can learn to deal with it. How? The Lord is available anytime, night or day. In addition, God has placed people in our lives whom we can trust. That person may be a spouse, parent, child, pastor, S.S. teacher, school teacher, grandparent, boss, neighbor, or trusted friend. Sometimes, that person may need to be a doctor and/or therapist. There is NO shame connected with seeking help in handling the extraordinary pressures of life.

P.S. I must share with you a phone call I made to my Toyota dealer from whom I purchased Tonka 02. I inquired about their rate for changing oil in my truck. During the conversation, I mentioned that I change oil every 3,000 miles. The service rep told me in no uncertain terms that my truck was designed in such a way that it didn’t need changing except every 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Hard to imagine a sales person of sorts trying to talk a customer out of spending money at their place of business, right? I finally ended the conversation by asking them how many miles they’d ever managed to get from one of their vehicles. The answer? 52,000 miles! I rested my case!

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