The Lifetime Warranty

So I'm driving down Ridge Road in Wichita yesterday when I notice it. One of the 8 lights beside the speedometer was glaring at me. Then it started to blink.

Thank goodness I was close to Sonic. I pulled in and got my usual. (Route 44 Diet Coke with vanilla. One time a married friend of mine - an accountability partner of sorts - did the math and figured out I spend something like $94 A MONTH on Diet Cokes from Sonic. That's $1,128 a year. She said I'm crazy and that her husband would kill her. I told her it's an addiction (obviously) and it's a good thing I didn't marry her husband.)

Anyway, I took a second to call the dealership where I JUST bought the car. They transfer me to the mechanic, and I explain that something is apparently wrong with the car I JUST bought.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

I explain that a light is on. "What does it say?" he asks.

I explain that it's a picture, not a word.

"What is the picture of?" he asks.

I explain that it's some sort of mechanical part. "It looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book," I add hopefully. Pause. Then comes the longest "I-really-hate-dealing-with-women/why-do-they-even-issue-y'all-driver-licenses-anyway" sigh I've ever heard.

"Well, I think it's covered under the lifetime warranty," I say. Then the minute I said it, I realize that was the water heater I just bought, not the car. And I think he heard me.

Yep. He laughs. "Oh, you got the lifetime warranty," he exclaims sarcastically. "Well aren't you special!"

Whatever. But it did make me think. I came home and and pulled out all the warranties, lifetime protection plans, insurance policies, retirement savings papers... everything... and began reading. And, as I sat among the piles and piles of paper with my calculator, I start to cry.

I spent $739 this month on insurance. You know, to protect myself. My health. My life. My assets. And yet, no amount of insurance can protect us. No number of policies -however great- can ward off accidents, catastrophies, and death.

As I cried, one of my favorite hymns started playing in the back of my mind. And I started to sing, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.... Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blessed. Watching and waiting, looking above - filled with His goodness, lost in His love...."

Jesus is mine. Blessed assurance, indeed! That's better than any insurance any under-writer could ever come up with. I think when I take my car in to see that mechanic on Monday, I'm going to explain. Explain that I DO have a lifetime warranty plan. Not for this lifetime, but for the next.