Skip to main content

1001 Uses, and Counting….

By April 4, 2012August 30th, 2022Devotional

Yep – for those of you who are wondering, I’m talking about duct tape. I have used it a number of times, but I never realized how handy it could be. This week I found out. As you already know, the hotel in Hilton Head ran my cargo carrier into the roof of the underground garage while my car was in valet parking. Not so funny, especially when you know that last year they dented the left rear door of the car and it was like trying to move heaven and earth to get things cleared up.

We had a great time, though, and that is why we went again. Only this time, 6 of us came down and we needed additional storage space. So I had roof rails attached to the car and then installed a cargo carrier. I have never driven with one of these before, so I figured it would adversely impact the way the car handled on the road. It didn’t…. I also thought it would reduce gas mileage, but it didn’t…..

So that goes to show you that I am a novice with all this stuff. I was smart enough, however, to warn the hotel about the carrier and so I was stunned when it was damaged. Sunday, we went to visit friends in the area and I admit that I was pre-occupied with getting a new cargo container for the trip home. I was making phone calls when I should have been enjoying our friends. Only problem is, there isn’t a cargo carrier within a two hour radius of Hilton Head Island. Then I thought that I would have a problem with proving the damage if I got a new carrier and left the old one at the store, so I had a dilemma on my hands.

My friend suggested duct tape. I laughed out loud. Frankly, that’s not how I roll. I am kind of particular about the way my car looks and some huge carrier being held together by duct tape isn’t exactly how I picture things. Then, I called home and our friend Pat suggested the same thing – it must have been a conspiracy. I was concerned enough on the way down here when everything was perfect – now I have a damaged unit that was smacked into a garage roof and needs to travel 800 miles being held together with tape.

My friend offered me either Gorilla tape or duct tape. I chose duct tape because it was silver, the same color as the unit, and figured it wouldn’t show as much – the Gorilla tape was black, so it wouldn’t blend in as well. Anyway, I was a doubting Thomas. That was until I remembered a story I recently read about a pilot whose small plane was damaged by a bear on a camping trip to a remote location. He had inadvertently left food in the plane and the bear totally destroyed the aircraft overnight. It looked like a total loss, but the guy ordered 4 cases of duct tape to be air dropped at his location and sure enough, he wrapped the damaged wings in tape. He also patched up the holes in the fuselage where the bear had actually ripped holes in the plane to get to the food. I mean, I thought the plane was toast. Even the wheels and prop had been damaged.

Then, in the next picture, I saw the repair job. The pilot actually flew the plane home. I couldn’t believe it – all because of duct tape. If it can fix a plane that had been destroyed by bears, I shouldn’t complain about the top of the cargo carrier being run into a concrete roof structure. After all, I’m not flying the car home, just driving, and what’s the worst that can happen? Don’t answer that…….

Anyway, the valet guys decided that they could put the tape on and do a better job than I could do. Good call….. So the next morning, I went out and saw the work they had done. It looked as good as it could look – only problem, they used brown tape. What’s with that? I had a whole roll of beautiful silver duct tape in the back of the car – and they used brown tape. Now everyone and their brother will notice the carrier and think I did the damage. I didn’t have the heart to ask them to rip it off and replace it with silver tape – but I admit I did think about it…….

So there I sat. A damaged silver carrier, covered with brown tape, getting ready to travel more than 800 miles, and I was worried about water and rain – the luggage all getting wet. I just had a hard time believing that everything would work out okay. But tonight, we are in Knoxville and so far, all is well. And we passed through storms today! That stuff is unbelievable…

The verse tonight is from Christ Himself when addressing Thomas after the resurrection. Thomas had doubted that Christ had risen from the dead. In fact, he told the other disciples that he would not believe unless he saw Christ with his own eyes – and touched the place of the wounds. That’s kind of how I felt – until I saw that picture of the decimated plane and actually drove 6 hours today.

In John 20:27, Christ said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” That’s what I need. To stop doubting and just believe. It would have been far better than fretting about how I was going to buy a new cargo unit. I’ll figure that out when I get home. I just need to chill out and leave the rest to the experts, and more importantly, to the Father. My encouragement tonight is to just let go and believe. Especially when you aren’t a subject matter expert – just go with the flow. And my prayer is that God will put the right people in your life to help during times of trial. After all, we all have gifts from God. They just aren’t all the same. I’m sure glad He encouraged somebody to invent duct tape….

By the way, when we got in the car to leave for home this morning, all the valets were smiling at me. We had a great time joking about the car all week and apparently last night they all got together and replaced that ugly brown tape with new, shiny, silver duct tape! It looked awesome – at least as awesome as duct tape can look on a cargo carrier. We all had a good laugh, I tipped them generously and our family headed out! That’s how we roll…… Grace and peace,

Leave a Reply