You Knew It All Along
“He’s Preparing Me” by Darryl Coley is playing as part of my morning devotion and I had a thought of my childhood. My mama did not play when it came to homework. She would sit my brother and me around the kitchen table, and we knew what time it was. Even if she wasn’t home, we knew to change clothes, get our snack, and get to the homework. I generally was able to do my homework with little input, but sometimes I would get distracted.
My mother would make her way beside me and take a glimpse at where I got stuck. “Gerald Jr., what is 7+5?” she would ask standing next to me. “10!” I would blurt out. She would look over and ask me again, “What is 7+5?” And without thinking, I would blurt out something else—close, but not right-- 11! Mama would not let up. “Son, what is 7+5?” And being the little smart aleck I was, my response: 75! “Now, son, you’re not leaving this table until you take your time and pass this. You know the answer.”
And I knew Mama was right. I would sit in that very chair all night until I got want I needed and did what I needed to do to move on. I didn’t want to be in the same place anymore, I thought about it and proudly scribbled 12 on the worksheet.
“Now see? That wasn’t hard, was it?”
“Nope. I knew it all along.”
“I know you did, son.”
My takeaway from this memory is this. Take your time, get serious, don’t get distracted and learn the lesson so you can move on. The more you waste time, the more frustrated you’ll get. You already know the answer. And until you get serious, you are not moving. You knew it all along…
