Our middle granddaughter, Gracie, has been precocious pretty much since she could talk. She’s never struggled to put her thoughts into words, and articulate them out loud. This last year, as she approached middle school, her words have become more confident.

We all have reasons to love summer. This year one of my favorites was short chats with Gracie while driving back and forth to volleyball and tennis camps. One day the topic turned to math. Honestly, Dear Reader, Girl almost snorted with disgust when talking about her last math teacher in elementary school.

Gracie said the teacher frequently corrected/criticized/called her out (take your pick) because she doodled while he was instructing. If she’d been taking notes or trying to solve math problems, there probably wouldn’t have been a problem, but she wasn’t. Apparently, from Gracie’s perspective, sometimes the teacher would try to put her on front street and ask her the answer to a particular equation.

No pause, no quick scribbling to work out the answer, no look of chagrin, no frantic glances at her neighbors for help. Gracie had already figured out the correct answer in her head. Poor teacher! How dare she question his authority by being able to use the brain God gave her to correctly perceive and solve it on her own? (Yes, that’s a little snarky, but I’m sure our girl gave answers in her most respectful voice and with her sweetest smile . . . )

Good news, Dear Reader! God not only sent His Son to seek and save us, He also equipped us to figure out what will please Jesus, how it meshes with our lives, and how to accomplish it. Even better news: I know firsthand that when we can’t seem to figure out God’s will, or choose to ignore His way, God doesn’t get snarky with us. Thankfully, just like with mental math, God knows we need practice to become proficient at figuring out His will. And maybe for a little extra credit, we can also learn more about patience with ourselves and others as we practice.