June 17, 2002
DOWN HOME:
After parking, life's a drive
___We're teaching our family sedan some new tricks. It still can't quite figure out how to fit into a perpendicular parking space.
___Just the other day, our 15-year-old daughter, Molly, and I took the car up to the church parking lot and tried to coax the vehicle to line up squarely between two parallel white lines.
___Molly has earned her learner's permit and will receive her driver's license when she turns 16 in the fall. She's completed all her requirements except the eye test. So, she's made a date to show up at our friendly neighborhood Texas Department of Public Safety office on her birthday to get the coveted license.
___Molly already knows a lot about driving. She's very comfortable on city streets. With a little navigational assistance, she merges beautifully with the flow of speedy traffic onto expressways. She's cornering well. And she seems to know more about traffic signs than I can recall myself.
___But the little things, like parking in perpendicular spaces, still give her fits. This wouldn't be so bad except that two of the three places she'll drive most often--church and school--expect cars to line up at 90-degree angles. (Mall planners are a smart lot; they don't throw perpendicular-parking obstacles in front of teen shoppers.)
___Well, Molly drove over to the church, and I picked out a parking space, and she slid the sedan into the spot splendidly. She wanted more practice, so she backed out, and I picked out another spot. This time, she angled between the lines, much closer to her line than mine.
___"This car just won't park in these spaces," she declared.
___Talk about deja vu.
___Just three years ago, her big sister, Lindsay, decreed that our car didn't know how to parallel park.
___Funny how things get smarter with age. Our piano, which both girls at one time or another swore could not play the right notes, now plays harmoniously. And Lindsay's old car--the one she drove while learning to drive--now parallel parks with the greatest of ease, any time she wants it to.
___Before long, I'm sure, Molly will teach our car how to glide between those parking lines, and even slip nicely between a big ol' pickup and a monster SUV.
___Through the years, I've watched our girls learn a variety of skills, from feeding themselves, to writing, to dribbling a basketball, to playing piano, to driving a car.
___Each time, I've felt I glimpsed how God must feel watching us grow in spiritual disciplines, like mercy, maturity and faith. We get frustrated and fume that it's all impossible. But with time and practice--and patience--we learn to grow in grace. Just like cars learn how to park.
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