What to do when life throws you an allergic reaction...
This past Sunday, I had to take a two-hour drive through the heartland of Northern California with my oldest daughter. As we set out on our travels, we made a bad mistake. We decided to take the top off of my convertible and enjoy the 80-degree day's journey, forgetting that we both suffer from early season allergies.
It was a bad mistake, that produced a wonderful 'pollen' driven solution.
I decided the sneezing, coughing and sniffing had to be covered with an activity that would keep our minds on the journey, and off of the clock. So I got "rad" (that's radical for some of you) and I turned on my Satellite Radio's to the ver joyous "70's Channel" format.
I cranked up the volume to an Elton John tune, at which my 16-year-old daughter efforted a painful smile and eventually decided it was better than sneezing in 'b-flat' together for duration of the trip.
As we starting to listen to the songs, me for the hundredth time and Kiersti some for the very first time, we were afforded a great blessing of realization.
The lyrics to a wide majority of the tunes had a quick, easy, relationship discussion for me and my daughter. When the O-Jays', "Money, Money, Money", blasted through the speakers, we had a discussion about the worship of materialism, consumerism and money.
Songs of lost relationships, lost love and lost vision filled the cars. Songs that I knew from 30-years in the rear view mirror, now taking on a new perspective as I listened to them as a man a tad bit older, and my beautiful daughter sitting with me in an allergy ravaged car.
From lost love, to a mystical desire to know the perfect, most satifiying love relationship man can acheive. Song after song sang artistic poems of passion and hope; "looking for love in all the wrong places."
What a great joy ride. As each song hit the air, I read the artist and the name of the song, she would laugh at the music and the style. I'd share a life situation that the song brought forward from my memory closet in the back of my cranium, and she'd relate to a current song that sings of a closely aligned life verse.
We would deduct the singer-song writers' pain, and hope for love's solution. We were reminded of Jesus' great grace and redemption for each chord of our lives.
For two-hours we sneezed, laughed and pondered God's Graceland available for every person who is looking for a relationship that makes it past three verses and a 'hot radio hook'. A relationship that grabs you today, and carries you through each journey and will never let you go.
We ended the drive with a dose of Sudafed, wind blown hair and a glaring reminder that each generation has had a desire for the broken relationships to be healed, for 'the' broken relationship to be real inside of this created life now best expressed as Graceland.
Moms and Dads, set aside your legalistic inhabitions a dn try this journey with your teenagers...a little advice; keep the top up or take your recommended dose of Sudafed before you leave. Happy trails in Graceland.
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