The Generational Blessing of Back Seat Drivers






A generational blessing in our family is one of back seat drivers.  What a great place to learn how to pray!

My daughter told me a cute story about a back-seat driver, her daughter Susanna, who is four.  After picking up Sookie from preschool and buckling in her back car seat, Carrie tried several times to start the car.  Noticing her daughter observing her, Carrie remained peaceful and turned to Sookie in the back seat.  “Do you want to join hands with me and pray?”  The two prayed, but the car still did not start.  Then Sookie said “Mommy, it’s in the wheel.”  Her mom questioned her again.  “It’s in the wheel,” the little back-seat driver said.  Carrie turned the wheel and the car started immediately.  

Back up 33 years.  Carrie was two and sitting in the back seat of my car.  We just moved from Chicago to a small Arizona town and I was dealing with culture shock big time.  No Shopping mall and no modern anything.  We took a big pay cut and I just enrolled my oldest child in kindergarten at a new school.  No friends.  New church.  No car.  

One day my husband purchased a car for me on the way home from work.  The car was only a few years old and the price was too good to pass up but I had to learn how to shift the gears manually.   Before work one morning I got my first lesson with Tom sitting at my side and our toddler in the back seat.  I wanted to learn it in one morning and I was frustrated because the car kept dying out.  Then I heard Carrie say “You should ask Jesus to help you, Mommy!”  All the tension broke and my smile returned!

Oh, these back seat drivers that love the Lord.  They’re the best!

This story links to Hazel’s website, Tell Me A Story.



Tell Me a Story

Comments

  1. Those are the kind of back seat drivers you don't mind having around! Cute stories... Funny how I think God actually uses the little ones to be His voice sometimes...

    ReplyDelete

  2. What a precious story! I like backseat drivers that are helpful!! Out of the mouths of babes...

    And, aren't you glad that the Holy Spirit helps us *drive* our way through life?! His advice has helped keep me on the road, and out of the ditches, many a time!

    GOD BLESS!

    ReplyDelete

  3. What a sweet blessing, the voices of kids saying it like it is!! One more time, no wonder Jesus loves the little children, :)

    ReplyDelete

  4. Thanks for the fun post. We have a few back seat drivers in my family too. Child back seat drivers are sweet, adults not so much.

    ReplyDelete

  6. What a priceless story you've shared about back seat drivers, Mary! Love it!

    ReplyDelete

  7. Visiting from Hazel's Tell me a Story. Great story. Made me smile.
    God bless
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete

  8. Wonderful blessing to have such sweet back seat drivers....still smiling over you story. :)

    ReplyDelete

  9. It's awesome to hear about these stories from your precious "back seat drivers" which are both positive!!! Not like the annoying atmosphere back seat drivers often do. What faith they both have in Jesus! Have a great weekend sister Mary! Blessings and love to you.

    ReplyDelete

  10. This is story is so precious!! What a memoire! Our Lord using children to bless you!! Children can be so in tune to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit! :)

    ReplyDelete

  11. A little child shall lead them. Thank you for your beautiful story shared at "Tell Me a Story."

    ReplyDelete

  12. Oh Mary, I just loved reading this post. Children are such a God-sent in times like these. These stories need to be told and re-told. I am rejoicing in the way Carrie's life has unfolded. May God continue to be glorified in your family. Tell Carrie I am still praying for her.

    Love
    Lidia

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feeling the Love

Image
It’s our wedding anniversary today.  We’ve been celebrating all weekend!  Yesterday we woke up early, got dressed and headed to the Sedona Red Rocks.  I climbed up those red rock hills determined, even in my dress, to breathe in the fresh morning air.   The sturdy jagged mountains, copper colored, spotlighted from the warm morning sun surrounded us; I experienced a rush of gratitude.  God blessed us generously over the last forty-five years!
Our trek in the steep red elevation exhilarated us.  We drove through town and found a cute cafe for breakfast.  A burly, outgoing man, the owner, welcomed us while the woman drinking coffee at his table complimented my dress. 
“We’re celebrating today.  It’s our 45th wedding anniversary,” I replied.
The little cafe filled up quickly and we were surprised when the owner stopped by our table and loudly exclaimed that he had an idea to make “our” day special!  He burst into song: “Happy Anniversary to you…”
Everyone chimed in and serenaded us, clapped…
Read more

A New Truck

Image
If the phone rings late on a Saturday evening especially if the caller turns out to be our daughter, I get suspicious and my imagination goes wild.   I ask my husband if the kids told him why they are coming over in 15 minutes.
I heard the knock at the back door and a sweet “hello” greeting from the kitchen.  I bumped into my son-in-law in the hall.  Mark hugged me like a big bear and I asked him if they came over to tell us they’re going to have a baby.  He laughed and said: “Not yet!”
Then I asked him if they got a puppy.  His embrace still tight he whispered: “We just bought a truck.”
We all piled in the truck and took it for a joy ride.  We made loud oos and awes from the back seat to compliment their rich interior upgrades.
We got back to our house and sat around the kitchen table talking about the day’s events when our daughter, Amy, told us an incredible story.

Amy set out that morning to keep company with a girlfriend whose husband had surgery in a hospital in a mountain city north…
Read more

Father's Back

Image
Mark’s dad died in a work-related accident.  A steel girder fell on his head during construction of a bridge.   He left three children, all under the age of four.  My son-in-law, Mark, the oldest, has two younger sisters. 
When I think of family love, I see the upside of this tragedy.  Mark’s family grew up in a large Victorian home with other family members.  Also, cousins lived close by.  The family did life together and, even today, lives in close proximity.  I enjoy them on Facebook; my feed rolls with photos of their antics and laughter.
Mark and Amy asked us to drop by their house to feed their cat when they drove up to the mountains to spend the weekend with his siblings and cousins.  They celebrated a cousin’s birthday.  One heartfelt present brought tears to Amy’s eyes when she told us about it when they came home.
The gift, a box of old photos, entertained the group as they each reached in and grabbed a handful of memories from their youth.  Gail, the youngest sister, broke in…
Read more