DOWN HOME:
This next year will be a 'trip'
___Birthday season still abounds at our abode.
___This week, we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of Molly's arrival on Earth. We'll light the candles and sing "Happy Birthday" to Molly three days after we feted Lindsay for her 18th grand occasion.
___Our girls were born three years and three days apart. That natal space always appealed to their ol' dad's sense of symmetry. For a few minutes slightly more than 15 years ago, I hoped Molly would be born on Lindsay's birthday. Thank the Lord, she wasn't. They each have their own day, and I'm glad.
___Eighteen is a big birthday, but in some ways, thanks to Henry Ford, 15 is even bigger.
___Yes, friends, because of wheels, internal combustion engines, sheet metal and assembly lines, we are an automotive society. And turning 15 means a person can open a door, sit down, crank a key and move tons of steel down the road. Nothing like it.
___Of course, I know Texas doesn't issue a driver's license until a person turns 16. But 15 is when a kid can start taking lessons and learning to drive, and that's when the fun begins.
___Three years ago, we lucked out. Somebody won a gift certificate to a driving school. And since her children were older, she didn't need it, so we bought it cheap. This time around, the price of learning to drive is full-fare.
___Or it's free, which is the route we're going to take. Joanna's going to teach Molly the classroom part of driver's ed, and I'm going to do the in-car training. So, put Molly and me on your prayer list. This should be a real bonding experience.
___Fifteen also is an age of transition. Most 15-year-olds are freshmen in high school, so they've just transitioned from middle school. They're growing and transitioning in size. They're changing and transitioning in friendships. They're maturing and transitioning in their relationship to mom and dad.
___"I think I'm going through my one-fourth life crisis," Molly declared not long ago. Never mind that she actually was poking fun at me and my alleged midlife crisis. I just hope she's going through her mathematical crisis.
___If you multiply 15 by 4, you get 60. And I don't care what any 15-year-old thinks, 60 ain't exactly old age. (In fact, it's looked younger every day since I turned 30.)
___At her age, with her life expectancy, Molly's probably going through her one-sixth life crisis. The good news is she should have a long way to go. The bad news is it'll seem even longer if she has to analyze it every 15 years.
___Fifteen years. Seems like only early this morning that I took 3-year-old Lindsay to the neighbors and carried Jo to the hospital to deliver Molly. It's been quite a trip, for which I thank God every day.
___And speaking of trips, did I tell you I'm going to teach Molly to drive this year?
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|