Jesus Take the Wheel

Jesus take the wheel, should probably be our go to answer for all of life’s issues.

My fifteen-year-old daughter has been driving for right at a week now. It has been a white-knuckle experience. It’s not that she’s a bad driver; it’s that she’s a new driver and very inexperienced. I promised myself that I would not be a yeller when my kids started driving. I remember feeling like my mama was always screaming when I was newly behind the wheel.

I am sorry to say I have broken that promise and I’m sure as my mama is reading this, she is laughing out loud. I am also sure that she’s looking at the screen and saying out loud, “My daddy always said that you don’t pay for your raising until you have your own.” As usual, Granddaddy was right.

As we were traveling to guitar lessons yesterday, we approached a yellow light. I told her to slow down. She kept her speed. It turned red. I told her to stop. She gunned it. At this point, I was screaming. She slammed on brakes, stopping us in the cross walk. She started crying. The guy on the bike crossing the street was cussing and glaring at us. I am sure if I were ever going to have a stress related heart attack, that would have been the moment.

When we finally arrived at guitar, she was still sniffling. I was shaking, (close to shock I think), when Ms. Vanda, her guitar teacher, came to the door calling out how proud she was the my daughter had received her learner’s permit. When we described what had happened, she had a few stories of her own about her son and her own experiences while learning to drive. She attributed her surviving them to the “hand of God.”

She told my daughter that she had worked on the perfect song for them to play; “Jesus Take the Wheel,” by Carrie Underwood. Perfect.

As I sat on her couch working to regain my composure and thanking God for keeping us safe, it occurred to me that we all have those driving stories. I’ll bet you can think of a few of your own. Almost every adult I know drives, which means at some point, they had to learn. But, rarely do I hear a fatal story involving a student driver. It has to be the “hand of God.”

When I pray that God will grow my faith, I should know by now, that I have to fasten my seat belt. Growth is rarely painless. But, let me tell you, if you want to really trust God, get in the passenger seat of a teen driver. He is definitely clearing your path and keeping you safe.

But, the deeper reality is that we are never really in control. We can make choices, but in the end, the big stuff, like our health and whether we keep our jobs or if we will return home safely from work everyday, that’s out of our hands. Riding with a student driver is a concrete reminder that we all should be saying, “Jesus take the wheel,” and stop panicking and worrying so much. That’s easier said than done, believe me; I know, but it really is the only way to find peace in the turbulent world we live in.

I know I’ll be saying those words very regularly over the next year. Maybe you would like to join me.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂