Benji

On my birthday a few weeks ago, I wasn’t paying attention backing out of my grandparent’s driveway and….crunch. The rear of my car right into the front of my mama’s car. Happy birthday to me.

Lucky for me, I was left with a few paint scratches, but her car had a bit of a dent and bent plastic. We went for a trip to AutoZone and came back to an undented car.

My mom looked at me in awe. My jaw wouldn’t shut. How did this just magically un-dent itself?? Neither my grandparents nor my little brother had messed with it. Mom praised the Lord and I was still in shock. Now, the dent most likely popped back out due to the warm weather and the sun. But her response was appropriate.

If you know me well, you know that I drive a navy 26-year-old Volkswagen beetle. Not my choice so you know.

I grew up with my dad’s 67 yellow bug sitting in our garage, covered in dust. I don’t think either of us planned for a beetle to be my first car, but nonetheless, my dad got it from a trustworthy owner who had kept great care of it, plus it didn’t have many miles on it.

When they first told me I was getting a bug, I thought, you can’t be serious. But I did not pay for it, so I drove the dang thing. And drive it, I have.

My car, Benji (from Mission Impossible), has added roughly 43,000 miles, obtained a few dents and scratches here and there, began peeling the headliner, and hit its max capacity a time or two. I used to be ashamed of my car, thinking oh it’s so silly to drive such an old car, and a noticeable one at that.

But on my drive home today, windows fully down and sunroof all the way back, I sighed in thankfulness as Ella Langley blasted on aux. I had texted my dad not too long ago thanking him for buying my car and told him as old and identifiable as the bug might be, I’m not ready to give him up just yet.

I drove past sweet fields of green corn and lush soybeans, with milky pink clouds as the backdrop, my hair in a flying mess, and thought, the only appropriate thing was to praise the Lord for a little old car and a beautiful summer drive.

The bug will one day be replaced with a nicer, newer car, and the corn fields I drive by might be buildings instead, but I can always roll the windows down, and I can always have gratitude.  

Best,

Meg