A little over a week ago, we took a road trip. As we drove the miles between Kansas City and Winchester, Indiana, I watched the changing colors of the trees and thought about the last time I was in a vehicle on an extended drive with my Dad, my brother, and my sister. I couldn’t remember the last time.

But I could remember road trips as a little girl with this family of mine – Daddy driving and letting us sit on his lap and pretend we were driving, too; or sitting in the middle of the backseat with Angela on one side and Dwight on the other, driving to church, Mom’s overpowering perfume giving me a headache; being nervous when Dwight or Angela was the driver; all of us singing “Horsey, Horsey on your way…” in a round or “I love you, a bushel and a peck,” as the miles went by; hearing Mom yell “Hold’er Knute, we’re headed for the pea patch!” if the car turned a corner really sharp and we all slid to the left into the poor person next to the door.

This time, Dad was in the back seat with Dwight or Angela, and Sam and I were in the front. Dad was as quiet as he always was when we were children, and I find myself wondering a lot what he must be thinking in his quiet.

Sam hatched an idea a month or so ago to take this road trip. “Dad needs to see Ron and Pam, and so do we.” I had never been to their home, and it was time to get there, since they have been there for over 20 years.

It was a fast, four day trip – probably too many hours in a vehicle for Dad, but Dad being Dad, he never complained once. We had two rules – well, I had two rules – no talking politics on the trip since we all have varying opinions and are dead set in our leanings, and the vehicle would stop every 90 minutes whether we needed a stop or not.

It was such a peaceful, wonderful ride for me. Family feels secure and stable. Family is foundational. My family is my safety net. These are the people who check in, who support, who love me no matter what, who pick me up when I am down – and these are the ones who made Sam a part of our family and have loved him from day one.

Our weekend happened too fast, but there are many memories made for which I am grateful:

• Silence before Ron’s prayer at the table – it was so very reverent and the presence of the Holy Spirit was surrounding us
• Seeing our Zoom church in person – the windows, the organ and piano, the history…
• Pam’s food – she is my Ina Garten
• Riding in the vehicle with all of us, including Pam and Ron – seeing the houses and farms of our Zoom Friends and hearing the history firsthand
• Stories and memories shared around the table
• Meeting Friends who have prayed for us for months and years – Shirley, Ellene, Ellen, Marsha, Mary, Jeff, Cleo, Suzanne, Debra, Tom, and on and on and on
• Playing hymns with my sister again – Angela on the organ, Rhonda on the piano
• Watching Sam sit in a pew and listening to him sing those hymns at the top of his lungs
• Watching my Dad sitting in a pew just listening to our impromptu, mistake-ridden concert
• Eating Pam’s popcorn in the parlor while watching our Chiefs lose for the first time
• Having a family Zoom call with most of us sitting in the same room
• Finally getting to see the food pantry and the solar panels and the compassion garden
• Listening to my brother and sister-in-law in person as they led their congregation in worship – their hearts are golden, their lives are sacrificial, and they are the STANDARD and such role model pastors who actually PASTOR their church members
• Laughing at Ron’s college stories of pranks – his “halo” tilted just a teeny tiny bit
• The hard-to-swallow, blink away the tears moment when we had to say goodbye

There are so many more memories that were made, but I just want to remember and acknowledge how very grateful I am for my family.

I am so very grateful Sam had the idea and made it happen.

I am so very grateful Angela could take off work or work in the vehicle, and Dwight just happened to have an injury that kept him from working so he could ride in an SUV all the way to Indiana, and Dad was available and willing to let us kidnap him for the weekend and make him sit in the SUV for 9 hours each way.

I am so very grateful Pam and Ron were home and not in DC and were able to adjust their weekend to accommodate our invasion.

I am so very grateful God placed ME in this Ferguson family.

And I am grateful that I haven’t lost all those childhood memories and that I had the opportunity to revisit them, from the FRONT seat and not in the backseat between Dwight and Angela.