Finally Driving My Family...

...and not just up the wall, mind you. Well, pardon the naivete but I don't mind telling you that it still feels absolutely exhilarating to me. I've been driving B to school and back for two weeks now, and each time I am filled with gratitude for the car that was given to us, for the mobility we have, for the freedom to go to serve and attend evening Church services, especially as Holy Week approaches. The sense of newness and excitement behind the wheel will soon fade, I am told, and I might soon find driving to be a chore or a tiresome routine, but I really do pray that I won't. I really hope I won't forget how generous God has been to us in giving us a car. At any rate, if any of you catch me complaining about driving, I happily give you leave to knock me on the head and say, "Hey, shut up and give thanks for the car, you ungrateful amnesiac! Count your blessings!"

And blessings there have truly been. The first week after we got the car, the UK experienced a sudden cold snap--- bitter cold, snowy weather, wind to freeze the marrow in your bones. I thanked God--- continually, profusely, repeatedly, until His divine ears must have fallen off--- for sparing B from having to walk to and from school in that horrible weather, and to me, it was a concrete, undeniable example of God's insane, practical and unbelievable love for B and our whole family. He KNEW the cold snap was coming, and so he sent us the car the weekend prior. His timing was impeccable! And I swear, only three short words were constantly playing in my mind like a looped digital banner that whole week: "Thank You, God... Thank You, God... Thank You, God..."

Last weekend, for the first time, I drove the whole family down to West London--- a 68-mile return journey through village roads, the motorway and the city streets of London. Reaching peak speeds of 70mph on the motorway, navigating the complex junctions and roundabouts of London and getting through heavy, creeping traffic was no mean feat for a week-old driver like myself. Thanks to O's capable navigating, we stayed on course and didn't get lost. Who needs a GPS SatNav when husbands can read maps, too? Anyway, I was so incredibly ecstatic at my humble mini-achievement that I must admit, once we got back, I did allow myself a passing moment of pride in my little accomplishment, before senselessly collapsing in a tired and trembling mass of jelly arms and putty legs on the bed!