I have a confession to make; My tags have expired on my car and I am driving it around anyway. It’s not as though i haven’t tried to register my car, but the state I’m in requires my title, which of course I have managed to misplace so I have had to apply for a lost title.  And thus began my journey to being a complete and total Nincompoop!

I knew that I needed to get my car registered so I filled out the correct forms to replace a lost title, had them notorized by a nice lady at our bank and sent them off to Colorado.  The state of Colorado sent them back formally stating on official looking paper that they didn’t have my title. Of course they didn’t have my title.  After all I had bought the car in Alaska.  I once again filled out the correct forms, had them notorized at the same bank by the same nice lady.  I put them in the mail and this time addressed the envelope to Alaska.  Then I waited.  The State of Alaska also sent my carefully done paperwork back to me.  Somehow or other I had gotten the VIN number wrong.  Once again I filled out the correct paperwork and took it to the same woman at the same bank to be notorized.  I took my paperwork home, put it in the special pink envelope provided to expedite the process once it arrived in their office and I once again put it in the mail and sent it off to the faraway land of Alaska.  Weeks later I received the paperwork again. This time I had failed to sign with the last name listed on the title.  I filled out the correct paperwork took it to the same woman at the same bank and had it notorized once again, this time signing with the needed last name.  I stamped the envelope and put it in the mail to Alaska, hoping all would go well this time but silently wondering what else could go wrong.  It didn’t take too long to find out.  One day while checking the mailbox I found an envelope from the DMV in Alaska.  I opened it with excitement and trepidation only to find out that this time I still didn’t have my title because I also  needed a statement from my loan company that the vehicle was paid for.  I groaned.  It had been over 14 years since we had bought the car and my ex-husband had taken care of the paperwork.  I called Toyota.  No, they couldn’t find any records so they gave me another number to call.  No, they hadn’t done the loan either.   I groaned again.  I don’t have much patience for these kinds of phone calls.  My husband actually had the audacity to laugh at my predicament!  I needed to make another phone call.  But, I did deduct from the previous results of my two phone calls that if the loan hadn’t been made through Toyota then we had used our Credit Union.  I looked at the clock, did the mental calculations for time change and sighed in relief that they were still open.   I called them, talked to a very nice girl who searched the archives and found the needed information.  She sent it to me immediately and I received it in less than a week. Things were looking good. I still had two weeks until my tags expired and if I used the special pink envelope I had once again been given to expedite the paperwork, I just might get my registration done before it expired.  I once again went into the bank and the same kind woman agreed to notorize it and also took the time to  look at the list of requirements  to make sure I had done everything correctly.  While she was very nice I’m sure she was beginning to wonder at my lack of competence.  I put it in the special pink envelope and sent it off once again.  Just today…(three weeks later) I received the paperwork back once again.  This time despite taking it to the bank and the woman going through the extra work of reading all the requirements, she had forgotten to notorize it.

I once again returned to the bank, the look on the face of the woman at the bank is hard to describe, but I could well imagine what she was thinking when she saw me through her office window.  She gladly notorized it for me and I sent the special pink envelope with all the correct information in it back to Alaska.  I recently received my title!  I am so excited.  Now I can go down to the DMV and register my car and no longer have to religiously do the speed limit or hope a police officer will not pull up behind me at a stoplight.

Sometimes doing the right thing seems incredibly impossible!  We try and try and it all seems to go wrong anyway.  I used to think I was a fairly intelligent person, but this experience (as well as some others) have made me realize that I’m not as “together” as I would like to think I am.

The same theme can be applied to our spiritual lives.  Just like the rich young ruler in yesterday’s blog post, we think because we have kept all the rules we are doing pretty good.  But then God has a way of opening our eyes to show us where we need to change in order to be true followers of God.  At that point in time we have the opportunity to change direction and keep our eyes wide open and on Jesus or close our eyes and turn away, continuing to believe we are okay just like we are, despite the glaring error of our mistakes.