Driving...

We are nearly done teaching our 2nd child, our one and only son to drive. He will get his license at the end of the week, on his birthday (but he will be 17). I was telling my husband today, that we are halfway there...

Sing it with me... 🎶 "Oh, we're halfway there, Ohhh, living on a prayer..." 🎶 😁

My son driving...

I'm very thankful for my husband, who really did the bulk of the teaching. He is a better driver than me, I admit it. The kids would drive with me after he had already taken them out several times, and after they finished driver's ed. Both of our teens have been good drivers (so far!). There have been a few times when I got nervous with them driving, but for the most part, I really enjoyed having them chauffeur me around. I will miss the conversations that we had while driving to school, band, or classes.

I have memories of learning to drive too. I am the third child, I have two older brothers. One of my brothers was pretty difficult to teach to drive, and my parents still talk about him. Both of my brothers got into car accidents as teens, involving black ice, hills, ditches, etc., I have been in minor accidents, mainly. My accidents were being rear-ended, backed into, a ding here or there.

The day he got his driver's permit

I remember my Dad bringing me to the industrial park, which was very slow, on a Sunday afternoon. We also parked A LOT. ("Every time you drive, you need to park.") We parked in a lot of spaces at the mall, driving around very slowly. I didn't like driving in the beginning, it made me nervous. After my dad taught me a while, I took driver's ed in the summer. I drove for several more months with my parents (even stalling our full-size van at the bottom of a hill!). I didn't get my license until I was almost seventeen.

When I first had my license, I sped a lot (I am not proud of this now, though). I got my first ticket when I picked up my friend on the way to school. It was not a normal route for me, and there was a school zone that I forgot about. I got a ticket for going 35 in a 25, OOPS!! It was okay to drive your friends around then, right after you got your license. Now they have you wait to do that for 6 months, which I think is wise. Another ticket I got on the way back to college from my parents' house. I was driving fast, maybe 70 in a 55? I was close to losing my license then, and I took defensive driving. I did slow down more after that.

Now I rarely speed. It isn't worth it, plus I am more of a rule-follower now. I trust the city planners and Dept. of Transportation who make the limits for the roads. I definitely slowed down after I had babies in the car. One thing that bothers me though, is when I go the speed LIMIT and people act like that is the slowest that you should go. No, limit means that is the HIGHEST you should go.

Getting your license is a privilege, a rite of passage for a teenager. I just wish they would stop getting so old? Where does the time go? My babies are turning into wonderful young men and women. I love them so much. I'm so thankful that God gave them to us. I just wish it wasn't so challenging to let them go, to let them learn and grow and change. But that is part of parenting, just like feeding and clothing them. I know I will enjoy them as adults. Right now, I will enjoy the children that I have with me, and hug them all the more. What a blessing to be their mom!

I love this comic-- "Strange Planet" cracks me up!

What memories do you have about driving, or learning to drive? Have you ever taught anyone to drive? I'd love to hear about it!

Romans 13:1
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Exodus 6:1
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

Matthew 12:28
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.