I’m not sure if you have ever had the privilege of teaching a 16-year-old to drive, but lets just say that when I was 16 my parents told me that in order for me to get my license, I had to learn to drive our stick shift Volkswagen.  Two times out practicing in the car, one time with each parent, and they changed their minds and decided it wasn’t necessary. 

It’s funny that we believe that mid-teenage years are the best time to distribute driver’s licenses to kids… I’ve experienced it first hand in the past few years and this is the age when they believe they know everything, are invincible and some even immortal…. and we let them drive. Here’s an example of what I mean…

Quotes In the car while letting my 16-year-old daughter, Allison, practice driving in our church’s pretty much empty parking lot…

Allison:

“I am a good driver…. Now, this one is the brake, right?”

“I meant to do that.”

“Can I just go on and go through the grass?”

“So now, how do I put on makeup while driving?”

“How’s this parking?….. Wait, we’re still moving”

A little later… Still in the parking lot

Me: “Why did you stop?”

Allison: “I just got pulled over”

Same parking lot…

Allison’s friend Lexi who was in the back seat: “Why are you stopped now?”

Allison: “Uh, the light is red…

Lexi: (Playing along) “The light is green now”

Allison: “No, it’s not… that’s the turning lane… Keep complaining and this Disney trip is over!”

Still in the parking lot…

Me: “Okay, Allison, I need to get back to work”

Allison: “Come on, Mom, this is my first road trip…Anyone need to go to the bathroom? I don’t want you to tell me that you have to go down the road twenty minutes from now … now is your chance… And quit whining about being hungry and thirsty….”

Lexi: (after we had been sitting still in the car for a while) What are you staring at, Allie?

Allie: (As she continues to stare) Canadians… we’ve driven a lot today….

(I don’t know where she gets this)

Lexi: (playing along again) “You’d better go… Dinosaurs are coming after us…”

Allison: (looking at Lexi like she’s crazy) “That’s all you could come up with??”

As we are still driving around the parking lot….

Me: “Allison, I need to get back to work!”

Allison: Mi nombre es Allison. No hablo ingles.

See what I mean???

It would be ideal(and save me a lot of money in gray covering hair color) if we could teach our kids how to drive from a remote location …Yes, I could sit at my desk and guide her through the parking process. However, I can’t imagine the lack of understanding and trying to teach without actual help or an example…..especially teenagers who struggle with attention anyway. Sometimes… most of the time….we just have to show them what to do.

Here we are still in Isaiah (Isaiah, 42:1, 5-6)

God, through Isaiah, is letting us know that he is sending someone to show us the way…. the way to live; the way to God, himself.  His chosen people, though try as some did, couldn’t meet the mark with the laws… they just didn’t get it and He had promised a solution.  Like Isaiah, God had sent prophets to explain and warn but the people still didn’t catch on.  He loved his creation so much that he needed someone, just like us but more importantly, just like Him, to show us how to react to injustice, how to pray, how to trust, how to believe, how to love and more…. We needed an example…Isaiah was letting the people know that God was going to fulfill his promise of a new covenant with them ( a new way to get to Him) and the Light would come to show us the way. 

That Light was born and we celebrate his life during this time.  How has his example impacted your life? Have you allowed it to?

More Chocolate Tomorrow!