Alva Review-Courier -

On any given day, when classes are in session at NWOSU (Ride Rangers Ride), the parking lot at College Hill is packed to the borders with student vehicles. There are no signs indicating that the lot is available for class-time parking but folks have been leaving their rides here so long that the next generation just pulls in and carries on the tradition.

One group, in particular, enjoys our expansive parking lot; guys and gals with ginormous stock trailers attached to the back of oversized pickups. There are precious few places near campus to leave such machinery.

Aside from the occasional law breaker who leaves their hunk of tin in the “reserved for staff” spot, we rarely have any difficulty with folks “parking at their own risk.” I have noticed, however, in the 12 years I’ve officed at College Hill and the Bible Chair, that students rarely, if ever, find time to say “thank you” for all the free – no sticker required – parking they receive.

Unfortunately, while I’ve been pointing the finger at generations of people and their parking, I’ve also been thinking about my own thanklessness – or at least my lack of expressing my gratitude to those who have allowed me to “park.” This Sunday, folks around the nation will be scrambling to say the right thing, give the right gift, and otherwise remember and honor “Mom.” In the Tyree family, we have the added joy of celebrating my mother’s birthday. I’m pretty sure she planned her birth so close to Mother’s Day just to make me think of her twice in the same week. I know the work we do is important but the Kingdom has taken me far from family, at times, and I wish I had been better through the years at saying thank you.

Well, this week gives us all another shot. Take time to say thanks to the ladies that let you park your feet under their table and your imprint on their heart. And if, like so many, your mom is no longer on this side of the divide, speak her name with pride and thank the Lord for supplying you with an unforgettable place to park.