In the wee hours of the morning Joe got up and staked his place in line at the DMV to get a driving appointment for Harrison. Seriously, he was there at 5:15 and was #14 in line! What a system! ANYWAY....being the nice dad that he is, Joe sat in the dark to get Harrison an appointment. And later that morning took him back to take his driving test. AND HE PASSED! The lady who tested him actually said he is "too cautious". Seriously? Who tells a teenager they are too cautious?
So, we went to lunch to celebrate his new license and his birthday. Then Joe and I hid in a parking lot nearby and watched Harrison drive off by himself for the first time. It's weird, people, it's just weird! One minute they are learning to walk. Then they are pushing their friends around in their little Cozy Coupe. And in what seems like a minute, they are driving off in a car. It's not enough that he is nearly a foot taller than me? But he needs to drive too? What next?
Since he's so "grown up" he didn't want any party or "fuss" for his birthday. He really just wanted the keys to the car. So, we opened a few little things at home. Clara was so excited to give her Buddy a new Bible that he could keep in his car...one of the few things he asked for. And Joe caught this picture of Clara watching Harrison. Melt my heart! Look at how she looks at him!
All Harrison wanted to do was go out to eat...and drive his car, of course! So after dinner we had to snap a few pictures with the obligatory car (which was a total blessing given to us a few years ago, and we were able to bless him with it).
We couldn't have a 16th birthday without a few friends and dessert. So, I broke with the cake tradition and made the boy his favorite desserts, key lime pie and apple pie. A few of his friends and our adopted family the Merideths joined us. Since I'm the funniest person I know, I made it a "CARS" theme. Hee! Hee!
It's both fun and funny, wonderful and challenging, having a 16 year old. Mostly, it is a blessing just watching them grow into the person God has designed them to be. It's fun when they ask your help to use the ATM for the first time. And yet extremely weird that they are big enough to have their own account. It's a great life lesson to learn how to jump start the car with your dad. A little challenging when it needs to be done again a few days later (when Dad is out of town). It was funny when the battery was dead and Harrison couldn't figure out how to get in the trunk since the buttons weren't working. Ha! He's never had to get in a car with a key, guess we've always had a button. Man...times have changed since we used to keep a fork with us in my friend Lori's truck in high school....because they didn't have a key, you started it with a fork. If we lost the fork, then one had to be "borrowed" from Pizza Hut. As a rule, it's pretty wonderful having a son that lives in the center of my heart. I'm amazed at the things the Lord is teaching him already and his maturity in putting God's word into practice in his life. Never take these days with your kids for granted. I'm telling you, they go by so fast!
