Making the Grade by Shauna Brown       When I was a little girl and learning to write my name was quite the experience. Van Wagenen is hard to say, let alone try to spell it correctly.  Shauna Van Wagenen would take up most of the space on the paper. Mother patiently work with me, encouraging that it would get easier with time. I cried because I couldn’t get the ‘a’s to look right, and the big S was too slanty. For me at times it was frustrating and I had to use an eraser frequently. One day mother gave me a nickel to purchase another large pink eraser.  I wrote my name “Shauna” proudly upon it, it was mine.  Mother even bought me special lined paper that they used in schools. She felt the added lines would help with my upper and lower case letters.   I practiced and practiced.  Let me just say my large eraser was a constant companion.   I was dedicated in trying to make it look good, as well as receive praise and compliments from my mother and father.  Each day I got better and skilled in writing my name.       I remember mother telling me how difficult it was for her to learn to spell her own name, Genevieve.  She shared, how she got the e’s and v’s mixed up.  It took her forever to learn to spell it. That motivated me even more to learn to spell my ‘whole name’ as quickly as possible.            Then history repeated itself. My first born, Heather, reminded me so much of myself. She wanted everything ‘perfect’.  One day when she came home from kindergarten she was in tears.  I  immediately asked Heather what had happened. No response, just more tears. I checked for clues. No cuts or scratches. I wondered if someone had been unkind to her on the bus.  I was stumped. She was clearly an upset five year old. After questioning her, and continued tears, I determined to call her teacher.  Gratefully, we both put together the pieces of my puzzlement.         “Heather is  trying to make everything picture perfect. She starts over and over again, and she's getting behind. So I gave her a pencil without an eraser. She’s probably upset because she can’t fix her mistakes,” her teacher informed me.        For years that little story has been held close to my heart. Fixing mistakes, making life corrections, striving for perfection, is part of why we are here on earth.  Sometimes it takes a while to get it right, and it doesn't always have to be perfect. Just like little hands learning to write names, we find growing experiences can be challenging.         With each of my children I have sat down beside them, practiced their letters, bought lined paper, bought big erasers, gave squeezes of approval, stickers of smiley faces for success. Cheered with them when they were pleased as well. Isn’t that what parents do?        So does God.      I can only imagine the joy in heaven when we choose to stay close, live within the lines, strive, seek to do our Father’s will, and learn of Him.      Life's school is hard.  I continue to fret that I sometimes give meager attention to things that truly matter- capital letters if you will.  There are days when I want to rewind, back up, redo, start over, and rewrite.  But like Heather’s teacher said, “She getting behind.”           Gratefully, because of Jesus Christ, we can remember He holds the eraser.  I love to visualize  “ . . . I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”        Our Savior is more than eager to instill within each of us that he will wipe away the tears, erase the smudges, correct and give comfort as well as cheer us on.       “... tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet.”                                    ~ Anne of Green Gables           And if by chance we do make a mistake, and we will.  We can take comfort knowing: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”         As a child I loved running home from school to show Mama my papers marked with a huge letter “A”.  There is just something good about seeing your parents smile.  I continue that practice, though I carry no paper in hand. One might think it funny, but I give myself a daily grade.                How we doing today?           Enjoy the Sabbath - make it an “A” day      Love to all  Shauna