20 minutes

I should have been a trucker.  I love driving.  I have covered many a mile with my kids and with my hubby when he is off of work and can tag along.  Call me crazy, but I love coffee, being trapped in a car, and the open road.  I am fully content to just ride and look!

The reason I love buckling up in the car and taking off is that there is no housework, homework, or honestly work at all.  There is nothing much to do but just drive along and sing along.   I traveled all over the world when I was younger.  My budget is different now and traveling with six and especially flying makes me a nervous wreck, so I consider every little trip we take as an adventure and a trip.

A bonus too is that I feel like I have the attention of my kids when we are in the car.  There are fewer distractions than if we are at home.  Some major life topics have been covered on the road to and from Dallas, to and from town.  The bigger topics take 90 miles. The smaller ones can be tackled in just 10. 

My son and I had some alone time in the car last week.  We listened to Hank Jr. and Alabama.  It was one of the highlights of my spring break. I don’t know if he would agree or not, but to me…it was big!

We also loaded up the Suburban and went to San Marcos over the week with the high school softball team.  It was a perfect mix of softball, shopping, and stopping off at a few Texas landmarks.  We had dinner at Black’s BBQ, took in the scenery at Riley’s Tavern, and stopped off at Gruene Hall.  My husband was the driver. I was the navigation specialist and the one who answered the popular question “How much longer?” 

By the time we reached Buc-ee’s in Bastrop on the way back, everyone was making fun of me and calling me a liar.  I always get told to hush, but this was more than that!  I totally got called out!

It seems that every time they asked me how far it was to here or there, I would say “Oh, about 20 minutes.”  When the kids were young and all trapped in car seats with sippy cups, my answer was always “Oh, about 10 minutes.”  I did not realize until this weekend that I had upped the time and that we had officially progressed to 20 minutes!

Going to Riley’s, it was 20 minutes.  From Hearne to Fairfield, we had 20 minutes.  Bastrop to Sequin was 20 minutes.  Gruene Hall back to our hotel was 20 minutes.  Finally, it caught up with me. One of the kids said, “Mom, you can’t just always say 20 minutes.  We do not believe you anymore.”  I must have said 20 minutes one too many times and someone did the math.  My 20 minutes turned into 60, but I was still just saying 20.  Oh well!  I was busted!

You might say 20 minutes became my standard reply.  I have other standard replies too.  One of them being JUST BE NICE!  That one is a big hit with me. 

1 Peter 3:15 reminds us that we better be ready to give a reply to others when they ask us why we are the way we are.  It says “Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you are living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.”

Quite simply for me, the way I am and the way I try to live has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Jesus.  What about you?