A Shade Of Difference

This past October, my car was sideswiped on a curvy road.
The driver simply drove on.
My mini van was eleven years old.
We were planning to get a new car in the spring; however, this pushed the date up a bit.

We had some decisions to make.
I loved my mini van; it had served me well over the years.
When we got an estimate on the repairs, it was not worth fixing.
My husband began to search for a new car.

I knew I wanted the same minivan.
Even though our children are grown, the mini van is quite useful.
My husband can carry wood in the back for his woodworking projects.
I can easily carry groceries or antique shop finds.

I only had my car for one week, when my husband came into the kitchen.
You have damage on the front, passenger side bumper, he said.
WHAT? I answered more loudly that I had anticipated.
I followed him to the garage so he could show me the damage.

There on the front, passenger side bumper, was a small dent and some chipped paint.
There was also some red scratches underneath.
Looks like a shopping cart did this, he said.
There was no way of knowing.

I had been to only one store, which has red shopping carts.
A runaway cart could have done the damage.
I have witnessed stray carts careening towards someone’s car.
I have even attempted to stop a few.

I can fix it, he said and I knew he could.
I will get some touch up paint and make it look as good as new.
I can’t do it until the weather gets warmer.
It’s better to use touch up paint in the warmer weather.

Every time I looked at my car, my heart sank.
It is only a car; it will get fixed, I told myself.
After a short time, I forgot about the dent, the chipped paint, and the red lines.
I never had to go around to the passenger side of the car.

I think I’ll fix your car today, my husband announced this past weekend.
It has been over six months since the damage happened.
The weather is warmer.
Quarantine has a way of bringing projects to the surface that have been forgotten.

I knew that my husband had not been to the auto store.
I knew that he had not ordered any touch up paint online.
I knew that we did not get any touch up paint when we bought our new car.
Do you have the paint? I asked him.

I’m going to use the touch up paint from this car, he said pointing to my daughter’s car.
Both of our cars are silver.
They are the same make, but obviously different models.
They are different years.

To my husband, silver is silver.
I know that colors have subtle differences.
I didn’t say anything because cars and touch up paint are not my forte.
I went inside the house.

He asked me to help him hold some open plastic bags over the area.
He made a perfect square around the section he was working on.
I held the plastic while he taped it tightly around the area that needed attention.
He laid cardboard down on the garage floor so the paint would only go where he wanted it to go.

I went inside.
He came inside shortly after with a look on his face.
I have to go to the auto store, he said fastening his mask around his neck.
The colors don’t match! He said in an exasperated tone.

All silver shades are not the same.
There are subtle differences in tone.
Even when colors looks the same, they are not.
I think my husband was surprised.

He went to the auto store.
I heard him return.
I left him to the task at hand.
I knew he would come in when he was finished and ask me what I thought.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’  and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4)

All silver is not the same shade of silver.
All red skies do not mean the same thing.
We think something doesn’t matter because it is just a bit off.
It may be more off than we think; but how do we know?

My husband did not see the color difference until the two shades were next to each other.
The real color showed the discrepancy.
They were close but not close enough.
They were close but not the real thing.

How often in our Christian walk are we like that shade of silver?
We think because we do this or that, it is close enough.
We think that an old can of paint on a new car will work.
We think that our old way of doing things worked in the past, why not now?

Because we are new creations, if we are in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Because the old has gone, the new has come.
Because subtleties matter.
Because when we stand against what is True, we see what is false.

The new touch up paint looks wonderful.
If I had not known where the damage was, I never would have known it had ever been there.
It was mended; it was made new.
So are we.