Two weeks ago, my dad and I headed off on a road trip together to attend the funeral of his older brother. Although the reason for the trip was a sad one, the time I shared with my dad was a treasure. When I was young, our family took lots of trips together, arriving at our destinations late into the night. For this trip, we originally scheduled two days of driving, so that we wouldn’t do that and then be too tired when we arrived. By dinnertime, however, we decided that in this case, it was best to push ahead so we would be more rested the next day, rather than tired from driving. I knew I needed strength that only God supplies.

My son’s wallet was stolen, and he experienced the loss on many levels. Lost cash, lost Drivers License, lost time with his girlfriend. Lost time for me, too. Hanging out at the DMV all day is pretty much the opposite of how we wanted to spend one of our last days of summer. Standing for hours, sitting for hours in chairs that make your tush go to sleep, engaging (or trying not to engage) with people who are looking for a reason to argue. Just ugh! The trip to the DMV turned into two trips to two different offices. In all, we waited over 5 hours…for 3 minutes of service.