REDO

This week wrapped up October. November blew in and the start of deer season began. I can scan my living room as we speak and spot piles of camo.  The “walkie talkies” are lined up on the bar like they are ready to spring into action at any moment when someone ventures out into the woods and needs a communication device.  I have one that stays here.  I guess I am the base station.   

It was also a week of “redos” here in our home because Friday happened to be the end of the six week.  My boys got lax about week four of the six weeks.  I checked Parent Portal, the online system for FISD teachers to post grades and parents to check them, on a regular basis like it was on speed dial in my cell phone.  The overall conclusion at the beginning of last week was that they had turned in some sloppy work, needed to seriously review before six weeks test began, and hopefully get a few grades up! 

In everyday language, they both just needed a “redo” in a few areas.  This “redo” session was not voluntary.  It was mandatory session mandated by none other than me.   Session one with Monico #3 was at the bar rewriting a book summary and using the rubric to make sure he had covered the required information.  It also included a math lesson on the importance of lining up numbers exactly as they should be and writing them neat enough so that none of the digits disguised themselves as other numbers.  You know 7 and 9 are closely related in the hands of a little boy who would rather hold a football than a pencil.  It is amazing how much more successful you can be when math is done neat and there is a difference in your grade when a teacher asks for four sentences and you actually give her four.  It was a successful “redo.”

The same night I had a “redo” session with Monico kiddo #2 to work step by step through a math review.  We had to rework a few problems and make sure that he understood everything that would probably make its way on the six weeks test.  We also had to “redo” a few papers for a higher grade. 

I was thankful as the grade monitoring mother that they both received a second chance.  I was also glad they had a chance to “redo” the work so that this time they could fully grasp the concepts and get it right!  Right about the time I poured an early evening cup of coffee to keep me going, I realized that I too was thankful for “redos” in life…I mean more than with homework too. 

If we are all honest, every day is a “redo.”  We all fail.  We all sin.  We let down those around us and most of the time we let ourselves down.  God sees it all, and offers us a plan of forgiveness. Jesus Christ came to earth, lived, and died to give us a “redo.”  He is the author of second chances.  It is called grace.  There will be consequences along the way, but the desire of our Father is that we will get it right and live without the burden of sin weighing us down. 

I love Paul’s words in Acts 3:19 when he wrote “Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  All we have to do is repent and turn to God.  He will wipe out our sins and gladly give us a “redo” because He wants us to get it right!  I will start off my list of things I am thankful for this month with the word “redo” and then I will write the word GRACE.