Kimee Gets Her Drivers License!

When we went camping for October conference, Stuart came up to be with us on Saturday and Sunday. As we were sitting around talking with Grandma and Grandpa, Stu casually asked Kimee, “So Kimee, when are you going to get your drivers license? How long have you had your learners? You can’t let it expire before you get your license!” Kimee said, “I know, I’m going to get it sometime.” Get it sometime, get it someday … those words set Stu into motion and he was on fire with one goal on his mind: to lay out a plan for Kimee to get her drivers license (she turned 16 in June). If you had been there, this would have been more entertaining than watching a movie or your favorite comedy. We could have sold tickets, and people would have been asking why we didn’t charge more! Stu had us all laughing so hard that tears were rolling out!

It went something like this: Stu said, “Ok, Kimee. We are going to set a date to get your drivers license. What do you think a good date would be?” Kimee: “I don’t know, like next month.” Stu: “No, I am talking about a specific day of the month. How long do you think you realistically need to prepare to get your license?” Well, I can’t remember all the discussion, but they both decided on a date of October 20, which was a little over 2 weeks away.

Then Stu said, “Ok, Kimee. Now we need to talk about some of the things that are going to prevent you from getting your license on October 20. What do you think those things could be?” Kimee: “Well, sometimes it’s hard for Mom and Dad to take me driving because there’s not enough time.” Stu: “Ok, let’s figure out how much time you need to drive every day to make your goal by Oct. 20. How many hours do you have left?” Kimee said about 7 hours. Stu said, “Ok, there are about 14 days, so that means you have to drive a half hour every day to reach your goal.” Then Stu turns to us, “Mom and Dad, will you commit to helping Kimee for a half hour every day to reach her goal of getting 7 hours?” Of course, through the laughing, we said yes.

Then Stu said, “Now what’s another thing that will prevent you from getting your license on Oct. 20?” Kimee said, “Well, it’s hard to go driving when Mom is so scared to drive with me.” (In my defense, remember that we already accidentally went 4-wheeling in the Jeep.) So Stu turns to me and says, “Ok, Mom, if Kimee is going to learn to drive, she needs to feel that you have confidence in her abilities. Will you drive with her and not show that you’re scared?” Ok, sure, Stu.

Then Stu says, “Have we covered all of the roadblocks to getting your license?” Kimee said, “Well, sometimes I don’t have time to go driving because I have too much homework.” Stu says, “Ok, then you need to figure out how to use your time more wisely. How much do you text your friends after school and stuff?” Kimee’s like, “Uhhhh…”

Stu then says, “Now, in my experience, a goal is not a goal unless it’s written down.” As he grabbed a napkin, he said, “I want you to write down what your goal is and then write down some steps that you will take to achieve your goal.” So Kimee came up with the following on a white napkin:



This was one of those things where you would have just had to have been there to get the whole experience. It was like Stu was back in mission mode, challenging one of his investigators and determining the reasons that would prevent them from being baptized on a certain date.

That’s Stu for ya … funny, funny Stu!

So the real question is: Did Kimee get her license on October 20? No, but she was pretty darn close. She got it on Oct. 22, and only because the drivers license place closed early on Monday and she had something on Tuesday. Congratulations, Kimberlee!