Gifts Come In All Shapes & Sizes, As Long As We Are Looking For Them…
It’s powerful to watch children experience moments you know they will remember for a lifetime. I read a book ages ago called “Wild At Heart” that opened my eyes to the reality that each young person has a question sitting deep in their heart that is asking “do I have what it takes.” The question speaks to so many things…life is big and complex and now more than ever it looks like everyone else has if figured out and kids are genuinely perplexed at how they’ll fare in the midst of the world they see. So all these years later, I’m still mindful of moments that help young people answer yes to that question and when it happens it is SUCH A GIFT!
Recently it happened when I took my sweet 13 year old niece for her first experience driving in the country. She and her whole family were here for Thanksgiving and we all made some wonderful memories, there’s nothing like family coming from thousands of miles away to share the holidays right, but this moment was just us and my sister (her mom). One of the great gifts of Waco is that you can drive less than 20 miles in any direction and be out in the country. Open farmlands…homes that are spread far apart…land that is worked and used in different ways than in the city. After living here for a year we purchased 125 acres and our entire family loves what it has done for us. So the day after Thanksgiving my sister, niece and I headed out to our ranch to see our newest calf born just hours before.
So we piled into my car with our winter gear because this was a cold and wet November day, and we took off. We fed the cattle some snacks so we could get an up close look at the lively newborn and then when we were done I told my 13 year old niece that it was her turn to drive us around the ranch before we headed back to the barn. The look on her face was priceless….driving anything…even riding a bike is not an option in the busy suburb she lives in…so this was truly going to be an adventure! Now I didn’t let her drive my car…but I did hand her the keys to our six passenger ATV for her great moment in the country. It was so sweet. She was excited and very serious all at the same time. In the big scheme of life it’s really nothing right…a twenty minute ride around a big flat piece of land…but at the same time in that very moment it was everything. It was new, it was wild, it was a surprise and it was all for her. She learned how to accelerate and brake, and how to monitor her speed and we all roared with laughter when she slammed on the brakes! The simplicity and safety of the moment didn’t escape me. Out in this big space, she could make wrong turns, she could choose to drive only two miles per hour (yes she did that a lot) and no one was there to honk or get irritated at her pace. She could miss turns, hit bumps and look around if she wanted because the space allowed her that freedom. After she drove us safely around and back through all of the gates (there are many gates on cattle ranches if you’ve never been on one) she successfully handed the keys over to my husband.
I know it doesn’t seem like much, but these are the moments that speak to that question in all of our hearts. For me, it was making a lasting memory with my niece who I have prayed for since the moment we knew she was conceived, that was my gift. For her, she learned what it felt to be behind the wheel, she knows she’s got what it takes.
