The Report Card

Once the boys were finally in bed after fighting a few too many bedtime battles with a WAY over tired Christian, I felt like we'd failed yet another test in life. You know, the patience-endure-to-the-end-of-bedtime test. Actually, I've failed worse before, so perhaps tonight I would give myself a D. Then I started thinking about what life would be like if we really did receive grades for these tests we are given. Like in school. I mean, what if we were given a grade at the end of each day, according to our performance on our tests. Because I assure you, I am tested every day. And then at the end of the week, or maybe even month, we received a report card. Would this change our performance on the tests? Would we try harder and do better because we knew we would see physical results in the form of a letter?

I did very well in school. It came easily to me, but I also worked hard and studied hard, and tried for perfection. I graduated from high school with a 3.95 and graduated cum laude from BYU with a 3.7, I think. I don't say this to boast. I say this because grades were always important to me and I knew they were going to be important to those looking at my transcript to get into BYU and later, those looking at my transcript to hire me. If I knew the score mattered, you better believe I was going to try and I was going to do my very best. I was never happy with a B, or even getting an A- bothered me. And getting an F was just not even an option.

So why do I seem to keep failing these daily tests now? How can I even allow myself to fail? Or do poorly? Why am I not making sure I achieve the top score and receive an A or even an A+? Would we all do better if there was some kind of report card sent from heaven to let us see our progress?

I know that these tests matter, and they matter more than any of the math or english or history tests I took in school. Although I do not have report cards on my progress now, my children and my husband (and myself) are very much affected by the grades I am making.

Luckily, the final exam isn't here yet and I have an eraser that helps me fix my mistakes. I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ that allows me to do better and improve my score. I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who waits patiently for me to learn patience. And I am grateful for the chance we have to earn eternal life, and to help our children get there too. That is the A I am working toward. Or rather, the A+.