It was love at first site for me. I was totally and completely smitten. Although, not everyone understood why. I’m not sure I did exactly. I think it was a “short-girl thing”. 

My family had moved into a new community my Senior year of high school. I was feeling pretty nervous those first few weeks and months. Until, Warren Mahan drove up one day. My eyes lit up. As soon as he jumped out of the car, I ran over with excitement and intrigue. I knew in that moment that I was in love…

With his car!

What did you think I was talking about? 

He drove a VW Bug and I thought it was the cutest little thing I had ever seen.

Oh, the “short-girl” thing. You see, my parents always drove these huge cars. The kind that look like a cruise liner coming down the road. That was a problem for me. Being 5’1″, I could never see over the hood of the car, parallel parking was a nightmare and feeding the gas tank was like trying to feed a grizzly bear.

But the VW Bug wasn’t like that. It was small like me. I could easily see over it’s nose. Shoot, it even had curves everywhere like I did.

A dream was born in my heart.
I was into my 40’s and had just gone through a pretty ugly divorce when I was finally able to buy my first Bug. (That’s right, I’ve owned two and would have another in a heartbeat!)

I loved that car! I know, it’s not the same as real love but let’s just go with it. I loved that car.

And I was a good steward over that car. I was careful with it. I kept it clean inside and out. I made sure it was serviced regularly. It was my baby and I had waited a long time to have it in my life. I didn’t want ANYTHING to mess that up.

You could say, I was protective. Maybe a wee bit over protective like a father of a newly dating teenage girl. Just Maybe.

However, my stewardship paid off. She was a great little car and everything I had hoped she would be. 

I’ve learned over the years that if you care about something or someone, stewardship is a value key to protecting it. 

Growing too familiar causes us not to give the care, respect and honor that is required. 

You might have a career, a dream or relationship that means a great deal to you. Maintaining it’s value to your life requires that you be a good steward. Sometimes, we have to adjust an attitude or work on our behaviour or give respect or be less selfish. It can be hard work. That’s why courage is required.

The root word “cour” means heart. When we are courageous we go with our whole heart. When we put our heart into something, we give it the very essence of who we are.

It can be easy to lose heart. 

Especially when our heart is broken. And love isn’t the only thing that breaks the heart. However, we can’t afford to lose heart and not protect the things and people we really care about.

Good stewardship is one of the ways of living that I protect. It’s a discipline that has benefited every area of my life.

If it’s worth having, it’s worth looking after.

Do you have an area of your life that could use a little extra TLC? Your health? Your marriage? Your job? Or Your confidence? Your healthy boundaries? Your wholeness?

Even when things are messy, I’ve found that I can turn things around by getting my heart back in the game. A little TLC works wonders.

Dee