hello everyone!

There have been a few moments in my life that have defined me as a person. This is not one of those! :) But so many people "express" themselves in a daily blog I thought I might try it myself. Here goes:

I'm sitting here looking at a toy that I had as a child. When my parents moved a year or so ago to Missouri, they brought a box to me that had a few of my things in it. One such toy was a "Car Transporter". It's old and well used. It's missing a few tires. (Lord only knows why I took those tires off) Some of the decals are worn. But it's also orange (my favorite color) and green (I tolerate this color). The flap that comes down to unload cars from the top is broken. It was made in England in the early 1960's by the Lesney Company. I have some vague memories of using this toy in the sand box in our back yard. We would make roads and lakes and rivers. Sometimes meteors (rocks) would crash into the little towns we had created. But this toy survived all of the earthquakes, tornados, and attacks we could throw at it. It's a survivor.

I looked on eBay to see if anyone else had one of these babies and what they were selling for. I had dreams that it was worth hundreds of dollars. Afterall, it's a classic toy in good shape from England! My goodness! It must be worth alot! Well... in a word... no. I found one that was selling for $.99! That's 1 penny less than a dollar! Shipping was $9. So, that's where they make their money! :)

But as I was sitting here, wondering about this thing it occured to me... some things are worth more than they're worth. Some things you can't place a price on. Some things are priceless. This toy was a reminder to me that life is full of broken down things that are worth more than they appear to be worth. Like a friend who is down on their luck, wishing and hoping for another chance to make a difference in this world. Feeling like life is passing them by with little notice. Like their contributions are worth nothing or very little. Their decals are a bit worn. They're a bit used and rusty and missing a few things (like teeth and hair). But deep down inside they know that they're not nothing. Their life has a purpose. They have been designed for a special reason. God has not given up on them! So they shouldn't give up on themselves either!

I'm going to keep this toy around for a few more years. Then one special birthday or Christmas, I'm going to give that worn out toy a new life with a grandson of mine. And you can be sure that I'll clean it up, and try to replace those missing tires and include a few more cars to transport around. And maybe, just maybe, that toy will find it's way into the sand box once again to bring joy to a kid who can't possibly kill it with a rock or two. It will once again be a survivor!