Timothy:
There’s no such thing as a free pair of pants. Donna came home from shopping with three new pairs of pants for me. I liked them very much and thanked her for thinking of me. She grinned and said, “I’m glad you like them.” as she sheepishly held up a broken piece of tail light from our car! Apparently, an aggressive metal post attacked the rear bumper as Donna was cautiously backing out of a parking spot – the previous day.

I remained blissfully ignorant of the damage to the car as Donna sought a body shop that would restore paint, plastic, and metal to their original showroom condition overnight. Alas, unicorns are more easily found than such body shops. So, Donna told me the sad tale of her tearful pleas to the mere mortals who could not perform automotive alchemy.

The guys at the body shop must have thought my poor wife was married to some Orc or Ogre from the dark recesses of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. I told Donna that it was alright and these things will happen. You will eventually drive to the repair shop if you have been driving for any length of time. She knows this, as well. That’s marriage. That’s life.

Donna:
Tim is hardly an ogre! I felt a little foolish at what I had done. I didn’t want to admit that I had been careless and created more work for him. But he just shrugged it off. I don’t keep secrets from him. We talk about everything. Right before we were married, someone asked me on a date. I told him I was engaged. This person suggested my fiancé didn’t have to know. I thought otherwise and politely declined!

Timothy:
Cars can be fixed. All it takes is someone who knows how. Some things none of us can repair, though, no matter how much we know or how hard we try. A loss of trust is one of these things. When that trust is lost, it takes grace to restore it. A marriage should be a place where problems can be shared without fear and truth can be expected without doubt.

We are in the middle of the Christmas season. Jesus came to free us from fear and doubt. He is truth itself. We can trust him to share our thoughts and failings without fear. Our families can all be Holy Families if we invite him into our homes.

Our car’s tail light is now repaired and good as new. We restored the broken car body. The broken body of Christ restores us.