So something pretty cool happened this week. We got a nice new Chevy Colorado on Tuesday. Our vehicle before that, a Dodge Caliber, was one of the older cars in the mission and was starting to show it's age. We already had taken it to the garage several times to fix a lot of issues, but it always had something else come back up. Then last Monday we got a got a call from the Assistants telling us that we would be getting their truck, so we needed to get the Caliber cleaned up and ready to sell. With the promise of the nice new truck on the horizon, it was easy to find the motivation to meticulously vacuum and wash and wipe everything in the car. We did everything we could to get it perfect, but some of the bigger issues were beyond what we could do. I was able to put new brake pads on, but the brake rotors and most of the suspension on one of the wheels needed professional help. Nevertheless, we did all that we could, then handed it over to the Assistants and got the keys to the bright white Colorado. It was such a relief driving home that we didn't have strange noises coming from the engine, the wheels weren't pulling to the left side anymore, and the unmistakable new car smell was pretty nice too.
All this got me thinking a little about repentance and the process it takes to gain forgiveness. None of us is without our flaws, and we can do a lot to change ourselves, but ultimately we can't be made perfectly clean without the Savior. Some things we just can't fix on our own. But at the same time, we need to do what we can and then let the Lord take care of the rest. Even though we couldn't replace the tie rods and ball joints on the old car, we could get it clean before we turned it in. In life, we can't get rid of our sins on our own, but we can make restitution for them and try to make up for what we've done, then turn it over to the Savior. Then he can not only fix us, but we will be better for it then we ever were before. We got more than a fixed version of our car when we turned it in we got a lot more. When the Lord invited us to repent He can turn us into more then a fixed version of ourselves. We can be what he wants us to be.
