It was the first day of classes after the Thanksgiving holidays, and I dreaded returning to the school routine. No, I'm not a student—I'm actually a mom. But Julianne, one of my teenage daughters, requires many additional hours of assistance with class work. The holiday had given me a much-needed break from the daily homework load.
As I went about my day, catching up on all the household chores, I began to feel the symptoms of a migraine. I knew the girls would be home soon, and I needed to prepare dinner, so rather than take the time to pray about this, I continued with my work. All the while, the pain and nausea grew.
Julianne arrived home from school with yet another weekly math worksheet to complete. The first problem was one we'd been working on together for nearly four months. When I asked her to complete it, she gave me a blank stare and said, "I don't remember the steps." Exasperated, I explained that the answers weren't going to just fall from the sky—she'd have to work out the problem to find the solution. Needless to say, this wasn't the best way to begin a long assignment. When it became clear that we weren't making any headway, I suggested we put the problems away for the evening.
