Road Trip Anyone?

Bible Study Mama messed me up.  When I was a kid, she decided that it was important for her children to know that there was a world outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.  Bible Study Brother and I grew up spending our summers in St. Louis with our grandmother until she moved back to Arkansas when I was twelve.  We cherished the time that we had with our grandmother, and we also looked forward to our end of the summer trip.

Although we did fly to St. Louis once, our travel was primarily done by car.  We mastered the art of road tripping.  Bible Study Mama and my grandma would plan the road trips for us.  We road tripped the way road tripping should always be done.  Before we ever got on the road, mom wanted to be prepared.  Back in those days, there were no really elaborate electronics to occupy kids while they were riding.  I mean, I kind of recall Bible Study Brother having a Game Boy, but that did not keep his attention for the whole ride.  Nope.  In preparation for the trip, we would go to Books-A-Million.  We could get whatever books or car riding games that appealed to us.

Now ya’ll know the items that were purchased did not hold our attention the whole way.  This is where the beauty of road tripping exploding.  Bible Study Mama and grandma would have a destination in mind for the end of the day, but the middle of the day was wide open for exploration.  If a sign on the freeway caught my grandmother’s attention, we would get off the freeway and investigate whatever the sign was talking about.

And then there were the conversations.  And the music.  My mom had the biggest box of cassette tapes you have ever seen.  Over the years, the cassette tapes evolved from mostly R&B to mostly gospel.  I could tell ya’ll about the time Bible Study Brother flipped out over the music selection while we were riding to Las Vegas.  While mama was evolving, he was not.  And he was NOT having it.  The way we laughed at him then and now just thinking about it.

Yeah, Bible Study Mama messed me up when she gave me a love for exploring the world outside of my everyday environment.  She created precious memories and a love for travel.  Baby, she gave me roots AND wings.  I’m grateful for both.  It has given me perspective that many other people lack. 

If you’re able, do the same for the kids in your life.  Show them that life does not exist in a box.  This prepares them for the world outside the four walls of your home.  Bible Study Mama’s intentionality with my life certainly gave me a firm foundation and a fighting chance to make it.  Happy Wednesday!  I pray that you are intentional today in cultivating other people’s roots.  What you do and what you say makes a difference.  #wepreach