The Parable of the Water Coolant

  By Thelma Campbell

            When Jesus walked and talked on Earth, he used parables reflected in the everyday 'cut and thrust' of life to illustrate moral or spiritual lessons to his many followers. So it's not surprising that, '2000-ish' years on, parables still present all around us as we journey through life - hence the title that I've chosen for this blog entry!

            George and myself are not quite 'empty-nesters' since the youngest of our three boys, Rory, still lives at home after graduating from Queens three years ago. His weekly commute to work in Belfast is sometimes by train but mostly by car ie: my car ! 

           Since I've recently retired from teaching, I now only get to drive my car when Rory doesn't need it ! About a month ago, on one of those rare occasions when I was driving my car, I noticed the words "Coolant Level" appear on the dash screen. I didn't take much notice of this since I knew that the car had been recently serviced and the mechanic would have told me if there was any problem with the coolant (not that I know anything about it... apparently, coolant stops the car engine from freezing in the winter and over-heating in the summer!!!)  A couple of weeks later, when Rory came home freezing, complaining that the car heater wasn't working, I did take notice!   Time for action !

            Now, no-one in our house is "mechanically-minded", but I thought that the obvious thing to do was to check the water coolant bottle (which was located via the car manual and Google) and then to fill it up with new water coolant.....(simples!!!) That done, I was so confident that the problem was sorted when I spotted it - a brown sludgy puddle under the car indicating that there was a leak probably from the bottle or a hose or something else that I didn't have a clue about...!          

Time for another trip to the mechanic .... Google couldn't help me with this !

           Long story short, the mechanic showed me the offending tiny pin prick hole in the hose 

(which could have been a bigger threat to the car engine than I had realised !) The replacement hose had to be specially ordered from the manufacturer since it was moulded into a particular "Best Fit" shape (meaning any old hose just would not do for the quick fix that I really wanted !)

Once the designer hose was procured, it certainly wasn't a big problem for the 'one-who-knows' (mechanic) to get the car on the road once more producing full heater capacity for all to enjoy !

            This little 'water coolant parable' seemed to me to reflect the following .......

                    Pay attention to warning signs (they could affect your journey ahead!)

                    Get expert advice/help quickly  (instead of relying on Google!)

                    There's always a solution with The Designer  (no cheap 'quick-fixes' with Him)

There have been times when l've ignored warning signs which could have seriously affected my Life's journey with Papa God. I didn't always see Him as my Heavenly Daddy, because my earthly Dad died suddenly at the age of 38 when I was 10 and I 'kind-of' blamed God for taking him away from us. Then, when I was 20, my 18 year old brother, who had just joined the RUC, was murdered by the IRA in the 'Early Troubles'. My journey with God was definitely affected as I just was happy to "maintain" a token Christian Walk and Talk and my 'Heavenly Insurance' policy! I suppose you could say that I had an orphaned heart which beat out its rhythm of doubt, fear and mistrust over my life resulting in no real Life or movement in my Christian development........and that suited me "quite we'll thank you" at that time!

It wasn't until I got married and after a few years became a mum (of 3 boys) that I kick-started my journey further with God. Becoming a parent gave me a different perspective on life and I decided that this new journey had to be fuelled with trusting Him and simply believing what He says in His Word. Now ........ long story short ..... I absolutely know in my "knower" that God loves me and has been with me throughout those particular tough times and many others. That's why I can call Him Papa with great confidence!

I'm sure that there are many more modern-day "parables" ready to be experienced and shared.

                     

Can't wait! ......

"She who has ears to hear"...........and all that......!!