Some people name their cars. We haven’t, with one exception: college kids and their first vehicles.

The Chevy Nova with the Toyota engine that was first given to Hans as a student in Tennessee, should have been dubbed “Kitty” because of its 9 lives. Not only has it moved through multiple owners, it’s also had a coat of many colors: beige, green, blue, red, bush camouflage, Swedish flag and now snow-camo.

It’s name? “The Bean,” dubbed so during its green-bean color phase. A better name might have been “Everlast” or “Humilitymobile.”

Currently painted white and grey, a snow-camouflage, The Bean wintered in deep drifts behind a Michigan garage and this week was put back into service. It is Louisa’s turn to climb behind the wheel and start the car with a screwdriver. As she heads to northern Wisconsin to counsel at a high school camp, it’ll be The Bean that gets her there.

This car begs to be pulled over by police and often is. However, outfitted with legal plates, tags, registration and proof of insurance, it charms its way out of every ticket. As one officer said after pulling Klaus over, “I knew there just had to be something illegal about this car.” But he drove away disappointed.

Over the years, The Bean has taught us three valuable lessons:

1. Don’t judge a car by its paint job (or rust spots, or engine racket). Look instead at its track record.
2. Fight the urge to buy a classy-car image, because the snazziest cars sometimes clunk before 100,000 miles.
3. Although an unkempt interior can cause embarrassment, it can still get you where you want to go.

Those 3 lessons happen to be biblical, and they apply to people, too:

1. No one should be judged by his/her appearance.
2. Everyone should project only an image of who he/she really is.
3. A person’s dependability is more important than looking good.

As of tomorrow, Louisa will begin bonding with the humble Bean, and she has magnificent plans to personalize it: silver paint enhanced with glitter.

“Is that legal?” she said. “Just think how it would dazzle in the sun!”

She’d better anticipate double-trouble with police pull-overs. And there’s one more possible snafu that may result in a debate with her older brother Nelson about The Bean’s next make-over. He has already refashioned it in preparation for his own next venture, a 750 mile drive to the School of Biblical Studies he’ll be attending this winter… in snowy Montana.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)