The Day the Music Died
I love picking up my kids from school. If your child is a “divulger,” then those moments when they get in the car are some of the most fruitful conversations you’ll get. Everything is fresh in their minds, and you get to hear what is most pressing or the biggest highlights (or lowlights) of the day in those first minutes together in the car with them. Or, if you have an “on the inside” child, you may not get the multi-paragraph rundown of the day, but if you carefully craft a question or two, then you will hopefully still receive one or two sentences about their day in reply. And for those children in between the two types of sharers, you are likely to at least get a little reply that gives you an insight on their day and their disposition.
For quite a few years, I drove a “school bus.” In other words, I was lucky enough to be able to take home my own kids and kids from several other families, depending on what activities each kiddo had after school. And I do mean lucky! Listening to each of those kids let out their personalities after being released from school each day was so much fun. I know driving around kids can seem like a chore on certain days, but it really is a gift. I have affirmation that it is a gift because dear people in my life, who have extra time available, offer to drive or pick up my kids for me. They know that spending time with children is precious. Holding others “captive” in the car with you can be a good thing!
Until that one day when I discovered I needed to clean up my act... About eight or nine years ago, when I was sitting in the car waiting for kids to be dismissed, it struck me that I had the radio on each day as I drove the kids home. Most of the time, child voices drowned out the radio, but I remember one day when it was quiet enough to hear the music, and we caught a lyric or two that well, let’s just say, were not character building. I immediately turned off the radio.
I got home that afternoon and reflected on the situation. I was driving kids home every day, and we listened to the same radio station every day. Even if we weren’t consciously listening to the songs and the lyrics, the words were still floating through the air and reaching our ears or subconscious minds. That was the day, the music died (in my car). By one small push of a button, my school bus was a better environment for the kids and myself. And do you know what? It was great! The silence wasn’t weird or intimidating. The kids still talked, and best of all, I knew I wasn’t filling the kids’ and my ears with virtue-lacking verses. I was grateful to have the guidance to clean up my act that day and make an intentional change to what we were listening to in the car. It made me realize that even the little actions of the day can be intentional.
While the music may not need to die in your car or in your home like it did mine, there may be small, but intentional, changes you can make throughout your day to direct your mind and heart toward Christ. Maybe the music just needs to change. Or the newsfeed needs to be put on pause. Try to be intentional with each of the small moments that have been given to you…just like this “bus driver” learned that one day!