Thinking Place

I was surfing the internet during my "lunch break" uesterday. Well, really I was surfing the internet while eating my lunch while on a conference call during a webinar training for a program I already know how to use, but that's neither here nor there. There were some blogging prompts that caught my attention. This one in particular immediately had me jumping to my blog to start writing.

"When and where do you do your best thinking? In the bathroom? While running? Just before bed, or first thing in the morning? On the bus? Why do you think that is?"

I immediately knew the answer...in my car. You see, this whole mommy business, single or married with a helpful partner, is just that - a business. It takes planning, organization, patience, communication, energy, finances, emotional agility and mental alertness. I could write forever and turn this into another "mommy post", but y'all have already gotten a taste of what this fabulous role of motherhood is all about from my perspective on a lot of my other posts.

As soon as I get little girl buckled in her car seat, I usually turn on some music as per her request. I will get in my seat, buckle up, and look in the rear view mirror that is slightly angled so I can see my little angel's sweet face. Then we are off to our destination. From this point there is no telling where my mind will wander in wondering. It's the one time that I have to actually sit and not do any sort of busy work. I'm not at home folding laundry while making sure the sweetness isn't playing with the scissors or writing on the wall. I'm not at work answering emails while the phone is ringing. I'm not grocery shopping trying to check things off my list. I'm sitting very still in the car driving to my routine places; almost on autopilot.

While driving, I might notice the trees and how they sway. I might think to myself,
How can someone cut down such a beautiful living creation? 

I might debate about the necessity of having paper.
What about tree farms; purposefully planting trees to cut them down for our daily use? Maybe we could go back to the barter system to get rid of money all together. It's a nice idea but that wouldn't work because the majority of people are either not honest or they don't want to work hard to earn their keep. It would, however, do away entirely with our welfare system. We wouldn't have to worry about drug testing or how much money is being dispersed. We would simply provide the widowed mother of young kids the opportunity to cook and clean for us as a payment for a place to stay. It would be a community gathering around the people in need. We would allow people in our lives, our space. We would have to intentionally make the decision to care about people and America is far too busy for that. Maybe if people saw the beauty and peace in real community, it would change their perspective. That's what the church is supposed to do. The church really could change the world if we got serious about loving people. 

For me, driving in the car is a clean canvas, a blank tape, the pause button on life, a direct line of communication, a brand new book, an empty journal, a spotless slate, a sweet moment of peace, a safe place to process.

Road trip, anyone?