HomeOur daughter just arrived home from college for Spring Break, greeted by the swirling snow of a wintery Detroit. Considering she attends school in sunny Florida, we aren't missing the irony or the sacrifice of this reunion. After watching a news special about the antics of female collegians shedding every last vestige of dignity on the beaches of Fort Lauderdale, this mama is dancing a jig that her baby girl got this Sprang Thang backwards. Maycee is a sensible & steadfast kind of gal, and I want to be like her when I grow up. Well, not completely. When I mentioned to her how much fun we’re going to have this week, she immediately warned me that she needs to hit the books. Huh? That’s just wrong. She certainly didn't learn this anti-social behavior from me.
I’m willing to grant her a few hours of scholarly indulgement, but I’m putting a moratorium on the mentioning of any quiz or exam. The pressure of evaluation and subsequent execution of judgment has robbed me of entirely too much joy in my lifetime to tolerate those nasty four-letter words in my presence. You would feel the same way, too, if your issues with testing anxiety translated into freaky nightmares about misread exam schedules, naked appearances, and man-eating insects emerging from answer sheets.
With college days far behind me, I can’t praise God enough that I stand before one Teacher and one Judge who does not evaluate me on the basis of my performance or on any ability to rise above the debilitating effects of anxiety. His instruction comes with no fear of evaluation, no fear of judgement. My complete & utter failure was certain, but Christ came to my rescue and made the grade for me. A grade of absolute perfection.
“Thou are in God’s sight as perfect as if thou hadst never sinned: nay, more than that, the Lord our Righteousness hath put a divine garment upon thee, so that thou hast more than the righteousness of man--thou hast the righteousness of God. O thou who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember, none of thy sins can condemn thee. Thy standing is not in thyself, rather it is in Christ...O, I beseech thee, lay hold of this precious thought, thou hast perfection in Christ!” C.H. Spurgeon