I have been trying to get a moment now for sometime to blog about the latest and greatest event going on in the lives of the Tullocks. I know I should have posted about this event immediately after our daughter received her learners permit but I'm sure it was better to wait because I now have more to share.
Rachael started drivers education back in December of 2009 at North Davidson High School. She completed her class time and then started her in car driving time.
Here, she is driving away from the school, and yes, that is snow on the ground. Guess I need to be glad she got some lessons on driving in bad weather conditions!
Rachael in her "temporary" car. You might recognize the person in the back. That's Christopher Kiser. He attends UGCS with Rachael and was in the driving school with her. She was glad it was someone she knew from school so she could feel more comfortable about learning to drive.On January 4, 2010, Rachael received her North Carolina learner's permit to drive. After leaving the DMV office, she immediately asked for the keys and thus began a new phase in our mother/daughter relationship!
Both hands on the steering wheel, please!!
Our first scary moment came literally within 5 minutes after leaving the DMV office. Rachael was driving south on Peters Creek Pkwy in the middle lane. I tried to give her as much notice as possible that she would need to switch lanes to make an upcoming right turn. Traffic was heavy and Rachael was accelerating. She abruptly heads over into the right lane and I hear the sound of a horn beside me. I look and there is a white truck at the back side of our vehicle. Rachael swerved back over into our lane and I was shouting, "Rachael, you have to look before you get over in the other lane!" She calmly responds, "this vehicle is bigger and I can't see out of it like I can my little car."
Note to self: First lesson in driving with your child. Be prepare for the unexpected! Do not assume you can ever take your eyes off them as they are driving and always monitor what they are doing. And if you tell them to get over, you may want to add, "look first!"
Rachael has continued to learn and I don't think anyone can prepare parents for the close calls, shouting, crying, and laughing that come along with a child learning to drive. It's trial and error, and takes lots of prayer. It has brought up a whole new realm of being a parent. I call it the "worry yourselves sick phase!" I know God's word tells us not to worry, but I struggle greatly with this one. I worry, more than I should, and about things I shouldn't.
There has been other close calls and I'll share just a few because of the responses we received from Rachael. There is laughter among the tears and shouting.
We took a trip to the beach in February (I'll try and blog about this too) and Rachael wanted to drive. We were traveling down a 2 lane divided highway. We fell in behind a funeral procession and slowed down to a crawling speed of 25 mph. Jimmy asked me if there was any law that stated we could not move over into the left hand lane and travel past the procession as we had been behind them for a good 15 minutes. I told him I did not know of any law that stated we could not go past, but out of respect, I thought we should stay behind the procession, until other vehicles moved over into the left hand lane and started to pass. Jimmy instructed Rachael to move over into the left hand lane and follow the other vehicles. She was doing great until she came up beside the Sheriff deputy's car with the blue lights beaming! Rachael was so enticed by the lights and the sheriff deputy, that our car began to veer towards his car. Jimmy took his 2 fingers and thumped Rachael on her right arm and shouted, "Rachael!" She jerked the car back over into our lane and with the calmest of voice responded to her dad, "if there's a bruise on my arm tomorrow, I'm going to be really upset!" Never mind the fact that we just about wiped out an entire funeral procession. My daughter was concerned about a possible bruise on her arm from her father, who was trying to gain her attention!
And then there was the latest episode when Rachael and I pulled into the Walgreens and I got out to go inside. Rachael advised me she was going to stay in the car and wait while I went in and grabbed a few items. Upon returning to the car 10 minutes later, Rachael begins to back out of the parking space. I looked back and shouted, "stop!" Rachael was within inches of the bumper of another vehicle parked in a space behind us. I asked Rachael, "honey, did you look before you backed?" "You have to look before you back up Rachael, did you look?" Once again with calmness in her voice and a confused expression upon her face, Rachael responded, "Where in the world did he come from?" "He wasn't here when I first pulled in!" I responded with, "Rachael, that was 15 minutes ago honey." "The parking lot doesn't stand still in time because you've arrived!"
It has been 2 months now and she is getting better each day. Her dad and I are proud of the progress she has made and continue to ask God to keep us safe each day. I have to admit as a mother, my biggest fear is that phone call that no one wants to receive and I pray every morning and night for God to protect my children. I know I have to place her in his hands because there is coming that day when her dad and I will hand her the keys and she will drive away on her own. It absolutely scares me to death and it is something I ask God to help me with each day. I also struggle with the process of losing the baby in her to the adult she is becoming! I just continue to tell myself, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds our future!"
Isaiah 55: 8-9
