What am I?

I come home from school. I bring home a “loaner” iPad today because I have lost my iPad. I don’t know where it is. I think my mom moved it somewhere. While my sister finishes her science homework and her math, I am looking for my iPad (sort of looking), and looking for a pencil (which my mom just showed me was in the pencil container right in front of me).

Forty-five minutes have now passed since I got home from school. I’ve eaten a frozen banana, almond butter with apple slices, sweet potato chips and now I am back up making hot tea. My sister has almost finished with her work. I did find the story I’m supposed to read, but I can’t pull it up on my loaner iPad. I got lucky this time - I’m able to read it on my mom’s.

I read the first two pages of the story, but since I have now taken 10 minutes to make my tea, I will need to start my story over. I’m reading my story out loud to mom. I read very loudly. Finally I’m done with my story. Since I sometimes can’t read my handwriting, I took a picture of my homework assignment with my loaner iPad at school today. The picture is supposed to be my backup. Sometimes I don’t remember to write my assignment down at all.

Next up for homework is studying for a social study quiz I’m taking tomorrow... but I can’t find all of my social studies weeklies. Some are three hole punched and neatly in my binder, two are crammed into the front pocket in my notebook. How did they get there? A lot of them are missing. I can tell my mom is getting frustrated. Sometimes she says a bad word. Since I can’t study for my social studies quiz, mom says to go ahead and start my math. I need help with math and can’t start without mom’s help. I tell my mom I am going to flunk middle school math...It’s now been two hours since I got home. I’m still in the kitchen trying to do my homework. What am I??

If you have a family member with ADD/ADHD you can probably relate to the day to day challenges like the ones I just described. The above “What am I?” was written in the midst of some trying after school moments. These kind of frustrations can still push me over the edge and make me feel hopeless as a parent. I cannot fix my child’s problems. I can educate myself on a lot of different ways to try and help him, but I can’t fix him and this, sometimes, makes me want to shut down and quit. God is graciously teaching me something important about trusting Him.

First of all, God didn’t give us our children (or any of our family or friends) to FIX them. Instead He gives us opportunities to love each one of them unconditionally. And not only love them but enjoy them as well. We’re to trust God with the “fixing” part.

The second lesson is one I am making progress with but am far from having mastered. It is learning to trust God to provide for my needs ONE DAY AT A TIME. It’s the same lesson God was teaching the Israelites as they wandered through the desert on route to the Promised Land (Exodus 16). They were hungry and they were worried about where their food would come from. God taught his children to trust Him to provide for their

needs one day at a time by providing them with manna. Each morning the Israelites would come out of their tents to gather manna, the “bread of angels,” resting on the dew for them to eat. God instructed them to take all the manna they needed for that ONE day (except for the day before the Sabbath when they gathered enough for two days) and then TRUST Him to provide for their needs the next day. God was faithful to provide this manna for them for 40 years until the Israelites arrived at the Promised Land. All He asked is that they trusted Him and obeyed Him. It’s the same thing God asks of us today.

Is there something you have a tendency to worry over? Something that you struggle to trust the Lord to be able to take care of? Remember that God’s grace IS sufficient to meet all your needs - but you need to tackle it one day at a time. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ (Lamentations 3:22-24).”