I have two sons.
Mike is 20. He works at Chick-fil-a. He attends community college. He's actively involved in a church college group. Loves to hang out with his friends. Loves to spend quality time with his family.
Steve is 16. He's a sports fan - really, a football fanatic. He attends high school. He's actively involved in 2 different youth groups. Loves to hang out with his friends. Loves to spend quality time with his family.
Mike got a late start learning how to drive. When he was 17, he attended a driving school, the kind where they come to your house in a car plastered with signs indicating that a student driver is at the wheel. Mike would get behind the wheel and drive off with an instructor who, I'm certain, had his foot riding the brake on his side of the car. When Mike would arrive back home, he was always in the passenger seat instead of the driver seat. I can only imagine how the lessons went. Fast forward 2 years. Mike was again motivated and ready to really learn how to drive. We decided to send him to Driving MBA. He had a fantastic experience with MBA. Before he even touched one of their cars, he had to spend 10 hours in their simulators which were nothing like the simulators many of us experienced back in High School. These simulators had 3 high-def computer monitors with videos that would run while Mike operated the "vehicle." They were able to simulate every possible driving situation, including bad weather, traffic, etc. By the end of the course, Mike was a lot closer to being ready to drive on his own than he'd ever been. But then, nerves kicked in and Mike took the driving test several times without passing.
Meanwhile, Steve, who was evidently born knowing how to drive, had already scheduled his driving test for Thursday, March 18. He kept urging and encouraging Mike to practice and be ready to take the test before him. So, here's how it went down. @daninreallife drove both sons to the MVD, signed them in, and watched as Mike headed outside with the on-the-road-testing-guy. Mike easily passed the 3-point turn (45 min. practice on Monday at the MVD 3-pt turn set-up in the parking lot) then hit the road and quickly proved that he had finally mastered the required skills. He passed!! Steve was up next. He breezed through the 3-point turn and the entire test went without a glitch. He passed!! All of a sudden, my nest became empty. Mike now drives himself to work and to church and to social outings with friends. The day after the test, Steve printed up a MapQuest to Gilbert, AZ (45 minutes away - I don't even know how to get there) and drove himself there to a friend's house. Steve's room is suddenly clean and he's making his own lunches. Yesterday, we were out of milk and I realized (with great joy) that I could just send one of my sons to the store to pick some up. Wow! My job description has just undergone a dramatic transformation!! I think I really like it. Of course, my prayer life has exponentially improved - this is when you really understand what it means to "pray without ceasing."
