Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Testing 1-2-3

Today all three of my kids, and Justin, our cousin, are taking a nationally standardized assessment called the Woodcock-Johnson Test. It measures intellectual and cognitive abilities and is done by a specially trained administrator.

In fact, they're going through it right now in our dining room. I'm hiding upstairs in my bedroom eavesdropping. It's silly, I know, but as a homeschooler, testing is something we have to do once a year and I've had this scheduled for months.

A monkey wrench got thrown in my plans though. Yesterday, my son came down with a double ear infection. As a result, he was up half the night and he woke Dania and me as well. So here's this testing administrator in my home and two of my children have hardly slept.

How can I get an accurate test result from half loopy insomniac kids?

I appealed to God and during my quiet time, he led me to this verse in Isaiah 46:6:

Even to your old age and gray hairs
   I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
   I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

What sweet words to my spirit! Then I read up, to the beginning of the passage. Here's what Isaiah 46:1 says:
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; 
  their idols are borne by beasts of burden.
The images that are carried about are burdensome,
  a burden for the weary.

Huh? What in the world does that mean? So, I looked it up. Nebo was the Babylonian god of learning. He was the god of writing and science and his followers worshiped him because he was responsible for their fates.


So I asked God? Am I carrying around my own kind of Nebo? And even as I write this, I recall a conversation I had with a friend yesterday. She was telling me about her three kids aged 10, 11 and 12. One son wants to be an engineer and the other a doctor. Those two apologize to her when they get a 99% on their gifted test scores. She doesn't know what to do for the daughter, however. She's happy with all B's and my friend is beside herself with despair.

So, I think somehow she rubbed her Nebo all over me and God had to remind me of who's really in charge of my children's destinies.

This is one test I'm determined not to fail, so thanks for the reminder daddy!


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