By Les Ferguson, Jr.,
Columnist
Back in the day, you could get your Mississippi driver’s license at the tender age of 15. If you
had the correct circumstances, you could apply for a hardship license at 14, like my wife.
But the regular license at 15 had no restrictions or limitations. If you passed the written and
actual driving tests, congratulations. You were free to move about the country, and boy, did we?
Learning to drive was a challenging task for me. Some of my kids had the privilege of growing
up where they could drive lawnmowers, four-wheelers, an ancient side-by-side, a tractor, and
even an old beater truck on a long gravel driveway. A couple of them even got to teach
themselves how to drive a standard on the family farm.
But me? We grew up in the country, driving a few miles or more on a gravel road. That road will
be necessary for this story to continue. But in the meantime, our daddy was either cheap or
poor or both.
We had a huge yard to cut and had to do it with an old-fashioned push mower — no self-
propelled mower for my brother and me. Notice my precious sisters were left out of the grass
cutting.
I hated cutting grass. For years, I swore I would concrete my yard and paint it green when I had
one of my own. But I digress.
So, without the opportunity to drive anything else, my learning experience did not always make
my dad proud. He had no one to blame but himself.
Fast-forward six years, and it was time for my sister Julie to get her driver’s license. The gravel
road mentioned above was Price Creek Road, which eventually turned into Campbell Swamp
Road. That’s where I imparted my vast and superior driving skills to my sister.
Bless her. I love her, but she couldn’t drive in a straight line. At some point, I famously said, “I
don’t care which side you pick, but pick a side of the road and stay there.” Thankfully, she
eventually picked the American side of the road and learned to drive properly.
It should be evident that I’m having fun at my family’s expense. But whether you got your
license back in the old days like me or are just now getting ready to drive, we live in a fantastic
time when transportation is so easy that we take it for granted.
In these short days leading up to our National Day of Thanksgiving, we are typically thankful for
big things like family, jobs, homes, etc.
But what if we rebooted and spent some time being thankful for the seemingly mundane? Think
about all the “little” blessings we gloss over.
The truth is, I cannot count all my blessings—they are far too numerous. So be thankful for the
big ones, but don’t forget the small ones. I’m confident the small ones are more immense
blessings than we imagine!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does
not change like shifting shadows.” (James‬ 1‬:17‬ CSB‬‬)‬‬‬