The Silver Badge of Crashes

I am informed that, being in LA, there is no one here who has not been in a car accident. That being said, I guess my time came...

Fast forward to Friday, November 2nd. Picture my workplace: a shelter on top, the parking garage on the bottom. In order to get into the parking garage, there is a driveway on a slight incline with a microphone box on the left and a swinging gate that swings off to the right. As I pushed the microphone box and asked to be let in, and started to pull in, I heard a little tap on my left passenger door. I looked behind me, and lo and behold, the microphone box was stuck to my dad's car! How did that happen, I wondered?!? So I reversed, hoping to get the little box "unstuck". But as it scraped along the car, I realized that I had to pull forward in order to get the box away from the car. The result: a nasty silver gash about the length of my arms held out to the sides. And poof: the realization that I had just sideswiped my Dad's car.

Since then, I am increasingly thankful that I did not hit anyone in this little accident, but only the microphone box (which, by the way, is in full tact, has no traces of paint from the car, and definetely got the better end of the deal, although it is only 1/200th the size of the car). I am also very thankful for the graceful response of my parents, who told me they would not have let me drive out here unless they trusted me.

Driving around in my "marked" car for the past week and a half has been humbling. This is the city of shiny new showy cars, and here I am driving around with my side-swiped car that still has ash remains from driving through the fires in San Diego.

Metaphorically, my car is an example of God's abiding grace. We are all marked- some with more scrathes than others (imagine being rear-ended or having a collision), and yet God still allows us to serve Him, in fact, He calls us to serve Him no matter where we are in life. Thinking that a car is no less worthy because it has a mark on it is similar to us thinking that we are no good after we have sinned. God still has the ability to use us! No matter how bad the crash, God has the ability to turn any crash into an opportunity to serve Him and be a testament to His grace. Now the question of serving Him falls to us: will we serve amidst our imperfections. My car still drives, it will really only need some body work and paint. In a city where it is necessary to drive to many places, my car is still a blessing. And the mark on it is a testament to God's protection in this city of very crazed drivers. For this I am immensly thankful.

Pictures of my silver badge of crashes will be following, be sure.