From my perspective, one of the neatest things that God did along the way of the Christian Car Guy show, besides calling me to do the Christian Car Guy show, was in 2009, he sent along just this unbelievable, fantastic producer by the name of Beth Ann McBride. And I didn't know when she came on board what a talent she was, that she'd worked for CBS Radio and all these things. And she opened my mind and heart to so many different cool things that could be done as we did my show with different ideas with music and just a very creative, wonderful radio personality in so many ways. So one of the things that we did in 2011, this is actually, she gave a life to, I'd written this piece and let her look at it, and so she wanted us to do it in a drama.
And in its own way, it was not only, you know, sort of the brainchild of how the Christian Car Guy theater came about, you know, even before the pilot episode, but this was years before that, when the creativity of two people who love radio came together to create this little episode that was just two minutes in a Christian Car Guy show from 2011. I guess my best years are behind me, thought the 1938 Nash that was sitting in a New Mexico barn. The Nash had been in that barn since the 1950s and the years had taken its toll.
The tires were flat. The paint had long since faded to an almost rust color. The interior rotted away. Even the top was kind of gone. Cars in those days had a hole in the roof that was covered with a sort of vinyl top, not a sunroof. And that covering had long since rotted away, leaving an unusual hole in the roof. But in my day, I was a cat's pajamas, twin ignition, overdrive.
Why you could throw a party in my backseat? They don't build them like me anymore, but nobody cares as I rot away in this old barn, thought the old Nash as the days turned into years. Finally, a brother, the Nash thought as they pulled a 1968 Rambler American in beside him to start the decomposing process.
This one, a dark green, almost military in color. It screeched its tired old brakes as it swayed back and forth, possibly for the last time. I guess we should be thankful they don't haul us away to the crusher like our relatives, the little Rambler told the old Nash. I'd rather they did and put us out of our misery. Wait till you sit here and go flat and start to rot. It's hard to take when you were once king of the road. Our best years are behind us now.
We're just left to rot and collect dust. Then one day, everything changed. The farmer sold the two old cars to a car guy. What was junk to some was jade to the car guy. Rust and dust to others was silver and gold to him. The car guy set to work restoring the classics to their original splendor, carefully taking them apart piece by piece, cleaning and oiling clear down to the frame. Then with loving care, reassembling with freshly painted, covered, chromed and restored parts.
Why the restored cars were even better than new, even their manufacturers didn't put that kind of TLC into them originally. The two pulling proudly out to the highway again, the Nash said to the little Rambler. All those years, I thought I was just rusting away. I didn't know I was becoming a classic. Yeah, said the Rambler.
We're worth more now than we were new. So that's actually a true story that my father was the one who found that Nash and found that 69 Rambler American in a barn in New Mexico, and he's the one that actually restored them. And as I put this to now that my father's been gone for a couple years, I couldn't help but just bring back a lot of sweet memories in so many different ways between the Christian Car Guys show and what my dad actually did. This is a true story. In fact, my sister Linda had that 1969 Rambler American. She called it Sarge because of its green color, and she had it for years and years and years.
I think she ended up with over 300,000 miles on the car, something unbelievable. But anyway, it's such a story of redemption, and doesn't God take us that we're rusting away, get flat tires and all this stuff, and he makes us new. And the idea of that mercy in Hebrew, as I understand it, has to do with coming like fresh out of the womb when you've been born again. You know, when you're just exactly like God designed you, you know, without any of that stuff that we've got an answer for, right?
He made us totally innocent, but innocent to the point where nobody could accuse us of anything. And again, to where we could be in his presence, which allows us, right? As it says in the 16th Psalm, you will make known to us the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-06-02 19:22:17 / 2023-06-02 19:24:44 / 2
