Is it just me, or does it happen to you too? What am I talking about? I’m talking about conflict that frequently erupts in the car following worship services.

Here we are on Sunday morning. We arise early to prepare ourselves for worship. We put on our "church clothes," carry our Bibles under our arms, and head off to the church building. Upon arriving, the children go to their classes where they hear stories about Jesus and are challenged to be more like him in their personal life. Following Bible class, we all assemble together to sing songs of praise, pray to our Heavenly Father, participate in the Lord’s Supper, demonstrate our commitment to Him through our weekly contribution, and we again hear another lesson designed to challenge us to be more like Jesus.

Now, you would think that a morning spent with that focus would translated into changed or reformed lives. But sometimes the reformation doesn’t last long enough to make it to the restaurant. Our first "pout" begins when one of the children has to take the back seat in the vehicle. That never sets well with the "designated child." He or she complains about the hardships of sitting in the back row. The next "pout" begins when we decide upon a restaurant. In a family of six, the odds of everyone wanting to go to the same place to eat are nearly impossible. In fact, I would not be at all surprised to learn that it has never happened...Ever! And then finally, we have the inevitable conflict that results from too many children sitting too close together.

All this before we make it two miles down the road and two minutes after a morning of teaching and worship! So how do you handle that? What’s a parent to do? Well, I don’t know, but I can tell you what I often do. I begin whistling. Yes, whistling. And you know, it seems to work. Oh, I don’t whistle any old tune, I whistle the tune that has been set to the following words by Tillit S. Teddlie…

Angry words, oh let them never,
From the tongue unbridled slip.
May the heart’s best impulse ever,
Check them ere they soil the lips.
Love one another, thus says the Savior,
Children obey your father’s blest command.
Love one another, thus says the Savior,
Children obey your father’s blest command.

It doesn’t take but a moment for the tune I’m whistling to be translated into words by my children. A sermon is preached, and not a word is spoken.

So if it is the case that my experience is not unique to my family, and others experience the same thing, then why not give it a try. See if it helps. If nothing else, it may drown out the sound coming from the back seat!

Oh, and for the record, lest you think this problem belongs only to those in the back seat, I’ll admit to being whistled at a few times myself.