Learning to drive a car was the hardest thing I’ve ever learned to do. When I was very young, the doctor told my parents that I would never be able to drive. But when I reached high school, a driver’s education course was part of the curriculum. It was required to graduate high school, so I had to take it. At that time, my eyesight wasn’t good enough to get my license. My class instructor and my mom got me in to see an ophthalmologist, who reversed the prescription on my glasses, which improved my vision enough to pass the eye test. (I still learned to drive with double vision. That wasn’t corrected until five years later.) Then my mother took me out in the car and let me practice. I needed lots of practice. I had the worst trouble staying in my own lane. With a lot of help from my mother, I got my driver’s license at age 18, and I have never regretted waiting those extra couple of years.
One day when we were driving somewhere, my 14-year-old son said, “Mom, what’s the hardest part of driving a car? Is it staying in your own lane?” By this time, I’d been driving for almost 20 years. And as much trouble as I had learning to stay in my own lane, I paused to think about it before I answered. I said, “I guess it’s all the things you need to be able to do at the same time.” Then I expounded on my answer.
And for a person who couldn’t multitask, and that was me, learning to drive a car was incredibly difficult. It’s taken me years, but I have learned to do most of those things automatically and have become a reasonably safe driver. However, I’m easily distracted (which can still make me a hazard on the road). So to drive safely, I need to focus strictly on my driving. Currently, I have been driving for almost 40 years.
Now Mary ( a widow who stayed with us for about a year) couldn’t drive, so I had to drive her everywhere she needed to go: to the pharmacy, to the store, to the doctor’s office, to the hospital. And she wasn’t healthy, so she had doctor’s appointments on top of doctor’s appointments; frequent hospital visits; constant trips to the pharmacy.
I got tired of being her personal chauffeur. But the Lord reminded me that I had been blessed with good health, and I should be thankful for that. Then one day I realized that it was only by God’s grace that I had a driver’s license. I certainly had no way to overcome all those challenges and obtain a driver’s license without the help and aid of others. How easily it would have been for me to find myself in her position; widowed with no means of transportation. God is incredibly good. I should thank Him continually for His many blessings on my life.