Do you have a favorite memory from your early childhood? Mine involves my daddy and model cars.
Unlike me, both of my parents had a passion for cars. Their favorite ones were from the 1950s and muscle cars. Being raised on the farm, my mom also loved tractors. Anyway, in 1969 they bought a new Roadrunner. They were excited because it was muscle car. I loved it because it had an image of the Coyote on the carburetor and the horn sounded like the roadrunner from the cartoon: “Beep. Beep.” It’s the car in the picture with the article. I’m standing in front of it while wearing my Sunday go to meeting clothes. Yes, we drove it to church every Sunday.
My dad would’ve loved to have been able to also buy a 1955 Chevrolet, but they didn’t have the extra money for that. Instead, he bought the next best things: ’55 Chevy model car kits. I don’t how old I was, but I remember seating at the table and watching my dad putting them together. First, he would take everything out of the box and lay the pieces out on the table. I couldn’t believe there was so much stuff crammed in that little model car box. It reminded me of the circus stunt where clowns kept climbing out of a small car that was only big enough to hold two or three people.
All the little model car pieces/parts looked like toys to me. I guess, in a way, they were. Sometimes I would ask Daddy what the pieces where when he picked them up and glued them into place. Bless his heart, he would try explain things to me, but I didn’t get it at the time. So, I sat there and watched him work until the car was finished. It was incredible to me how he could do that.
Another person who put together model cars was my next-door neighbor. He was a little younger than I was, but he got an allowance before I ever did. He saved it to buy the model car kits he wanted. After he put them together, he would show them off to everybody. Honestly, I could see why. He always did an amazing job on them like my daddy did. One fateful day, he showed me one that he was particularly proud of building. That made me think: “Why can’t I put a model car together?” Dare I, do it? There was only one way to find out.
Immediately I told my mom what I wanted to do. She suggested that I start out with an easy one. So, when she took me to the store, I picked out a simple model car kit. I don’t know what make it was and, to be honest, I didn’t care. All that mattered to me was that it was a pretty baby blue. Also, it was some kind of two door sport car. As soon as I got it home, I opened it and took out all of the contents of the box and laid them on the table as my daddy had done. While I didn’t know what all the parts were, I had the instructions to follow. The first thing I realized about the kit made me very happy. Glue wasn’t needed since the pieces snapped together. To me, glue was stinky and I usually made a mess any time I used it.
Slowly and carefully, I followed the directions and snapped my car together. Once I was finished, I sat back and admired the model car that I built all by myself. I even took it to school to show my friends and teachers. Some were impressed while others weren’t. I didn’t let them upset me. I proudly displayed that car in my room for years.
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)
Like my daddy, many are drawn to model cars because they are so identical to the real versions. As humans, we often model ourselves after famous people or popular concepts because we want to be like them. In the verse above, Paul is essentially telling the Church in Corinth that they should be like him and model themselves after Christ. So, you are you trying to model yourself after; the world or Christ?
Have I ever put together another model car? Nope. If I ever do, there are two requirements. First, my husband would have to help me since he also used to put together model cars. Second, it would have be either the Batmobile from the TV series or the car the Monkees (musical group) drove. Those are seriously cool cars.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.