The Windshield or the Wipers?

About three months ago after driving in the rain I realized I was in need of new windshield wiper blades. I used the nifty book in the automotive section at Wal-Mart to look up my vehicle and pick the perfect wiper blades for my car. I didn't get the cheapest set or the most expensive, just somewhere in the middle. I think I had around $30 dollars total tied up in these helpful windshield wiper blades. I brought them home to my handy husband excited for him to get them put on my car. Nice windshield wiper blades really aren't given much thought...that's until it's raining real hard! I'm the mom trying to drive a SUV full of kids safely down the road while their watching a movie turned up way too load in the back seats. All the while I'm white knuckling the steering wheel trying to see the road or the potential car in front of me, and their biggest concern is they can't hear their "most favorite part of the movie" because it's raining so hard. I'm sure you've been there?! First world problems at their finest!

Anyways, Eric went to put my nice new blades on my car that night when we got home. Nothing new. He has done this many times. He soon came back in the house very disappointed! He had dropped one of the blades which hit perfectly at the bottom of my windshield and caused it to crack. He watched the crack slowly make it's way from the very bottom towards the top of my windshield. I will let your thoughts fill in the emotions that Eric may have been feeling in this moment. Some of the words included, "Really? Really? Those $30 dollar windshield wiper blades just cost me $500 dollars? Really?!?!" He was so upset that he had accidentally dropped the blade and caused the windshield to crack. Things like this really don't upset me all that much. I'm the girl who hits the same picnic table not once, but TWICE in the same school year while dropping off my child at daycare. I don't even get out of the car and assess the damage until I'm to the place I'm going. HAHA! I got way too much going on to be worrying about minor dings to the bumper. Accidents happen...one of my favorite phrases is, "It'll buff out!" Eric on the other hand, not so much! He doesn't like anything to be torn up or out of place. If someone else is hitting the picnic table it doesn't bother him as badly, but when it's him causing the damage...it is NOT okay at all according to the standards he sets for himself. I still use the same motto-It'll buff out!

All of that to say, what are we most concerned about? The windshield or the wipers? They are both a necessity and neither one can function properly without the other, but in the big picture I'm still VERY happy to have my new wiper blades. The crack in the wind shield isn't the prettiest thing, but the windshield still works perfectly fine with that cute crack. After reassuring Eric over and over that night that the windshield was perfectly fine even with a crack, I realized that so often we focus on the crack instead of the brand new blades in this thing we call life.

This is especially true with foster kids. When these children come into care they all have a damaged windshield. There is no way around it. Some may have just minor chips. Some may have a few cracks, while others are spider webbed all over. Does that mean we don't celebrate the new blades? Absolutely not! Don't we all come with cracks, dents, and spots that could be buffed out? I know I personally have lots of them! If I didn't have amazing family and friends to celebrate the awesomeness of my new blades and ignore my cracks, who knows where I would be today? I'm thankful for a God who overlooks all my blemishes as well and knows "It'll buff out!" It's very hard to overlook the cracks, defects, and all the problems with people sometimes. We may even ask ourselves at times"really...this is going to cost me how much?" The cost may be monetary or emotional. We aren't called to look at the cost in any form though. We are only called to love. Love Him and love others! That's it! My goal from now on is to look for the new blades in every person I meet while trying to look past the tiny or maybe huge cracks in their windshield. My goal is just to simply Love on Borrowed Time.