3 days in a minivan with 3 kids a dog and a crab

As I’m typing this on my phone (those who know me are proud of me right now for learning to use technology) it’s the last night on the road tonight & we hit Atlanta tomorrow to start the next chapter of our lives together. We’ve tried to make the roadtrip as memorable as possible for the kids. I mean how many times do you ever move your whole family across the country? I think we’ve pretty much succeeded, only 6 movies in 3 days means we’ve been doing a lot of other stuff. There were stories read, laughter, and multiple cow sightings by the girls. There was the blimp we saw doing training moves just a few 100 ft off the ground, the horses sticking their heads out of the trailer as we passed by, picnics at the rest stops, Lincoln loved yelling at every tractor trailer we passed, and so on. There were tons of simple yet satisfying moments that happened on the trip that as a father I hope I never forget. And then there were the ones I do hope to forget. You know the ones if you’re a parent.

The ones were Lincoln throws his matchbox car at his sister, or drops his binkie over & over for Lisa to pick up cuz he thinks it’s a game. Or the old she’s touching me, or breathing my air routine. I’ve heard people talk about moments like these. They say silly things like, “God is trying to build patience into your life.” Makes me want to scream back, “no he’s not, my kids are just acting like sinful little runts and I’m trying to help them grow up!” Hhmmm… at any rate have you ever tried to get 3 kids under the age of six out of a jam packed minivan w a dog and a hermit crab in & out of hotels, and all of their stuff? We did pretty good mostly. Was God trying to teach us patience, or was this just an opportunity to demonstrate something that was already there or practice a bit to strengthen this discipline? You see I look at these moments more as a barometer in my life, an opportunity or even a mirror to show me what’s really in my heart, what I’m really made of. Based on this trip, I’ve still got some more work to put in on the practice field.