Well, not a new truck…a “new to me” truck.

Our 28-year-old little pickup finally bit the dust. Actually, it’s still on life support—it runs, but blows out vaporized antifreeze and overheats in about 5 minutes. If I had purchased some good “health insurance” for it, it would again be happily frolicking around the streets of Waxhaw, Concord, and Charlotte. But, without vehicle health insurance, the $2,000 required to take it off life support was beyond what we wanted to pay for a 28-year-old truck.

When I told our son, Colin, that the little truck that had gotten him through high school, college, and a few years after college (before Dad reclaimed it for the occasional “I-need-to-haul-some-stuff” trips) he immediately started looking for a replacement, saying “It’s time, Dad.” Long story short, he found one for me. And I love it!

But, that’s not the best part of the story…

Since purchasing the truck, the time that Colin and I have spent together—looking at trucks, test driving trucks, going through the purchase of the truck, then cleaning, polishing and detailing the truck—has been so much fun for both of us.

A couple weeks ago, we spent a Saturday together, ALL DAY, detailing just the outside of the truck. 10 hours! And there are still 2 more steps of the exterior detailing process that we have not yet completed. Colin has taught me a lot about detailing a vehicle.

During this time of social and physical distancing, I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend time with Colin, and the rest of my family. We have kept our circles of social and physical contact pretty small, and are comfortable being together during this time of COVID.

We need that. We need contact with others. We need to be and to feel connected with one another. For, when we come together, we not only find the support we crave, but we find that we are better together. We are stronger. We develop a synergy. We find people with complimentary talents, experiences, and energy.

This is how Christ builds His Church—through connections. We are better together. So, during this time of physical separation, we look for ways to “come together,” to support one another, to love one another, to rely on each other…to be the Church.

“…we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:15b,16)

Go on. Go out and find your “truck” with someone, so that you can connect more deeply. Whether physically (at a distance), on the phone, on Zoom, through social media, or in some other way. Find ways to connect. For we all need deep connections now, more than ever.

In Christ,

Pastor Tenny