Learning to Drive

Our daughter turns sixteen next month, so we are on a week-long road trip in which she's doing almost all of the driving to "burn in" her driving skills. She's doing really well too!

Practical Mentoring
God brings many people into our lives to help mentor and guide us, and it's up to us to keep our eyes and ears open so we don't miss them. A number of years ago a friend shared a great idea with me that is the basis of our road trip.

As each of his children were about to earn their driver license, he took them on a one-on-one week-long road trip in which the kid did most of the driving. His was a GREAT idea!

• It's a rare opportunity to have a bunch of conversations between a dad and his kid. I have said many times that it's not quality time, it's quantity time. That's because you can't plan quality time, you can only plan quantity time. And during some of that quantity time, some quality time may happen...
• Giving your kid the keys to the car is... well... kind of scary! They'll be completely on their own when they're out driving, with no way for mom and dad to protect them other than with prayer (I am not downplaying prayer's importance). This kind of burn-in builds confidence, skill, and creates the opportunity to give a lot of driving tips.
• Once the driver license is in their hands, kids spend very little time at home. This is almost like a last-ditch opportunity to spend time together... before everything gets even crazier.

Well, I'm thankful for the lesson I learned from my friend. And we're having a great time driving throughout the state of California! Our daughter will have driven through L.A. traffic, long boring stretches of freeway, canyon roads, steep and windy mountain roads, bridges (like the Golden Gate!), and San Francisco rush hour! And we've had a lot of fun dad-and-daughter time together.