They bounce out of bed and, a few minutes later, run downstairs and into the kitchen, fully dressed and ready to go. Their slightly sleepy teenage brother is already at the table, sipping juice and munching granola and yogurt. The younger two grab homemade smoothies and muffins and sit down to eat, and then get up, help pack their lunches, and get their backpacks and coats ready. We glance at the clock and, unusually for us, realize that there is actually ten minutes before we need to go out the door. Everyone seems motivated and even eager to get to school. Not exactly what one would expect for PSSA testing week. 

Only one can really expect to do well on all of the tests and none of them like the actual testing. I think they like the rest of the day – extra snacks, movies or games, extra reading time, and little or no homework. Mostly, they like any extra minute that they get to converse or to be with their friends. For the older two, this all has become routine. Parents and teachers may complain about it all at times; they just deal and make the best of it without complaining.

I do a much poorer job of facing the tests and challenges in my own life, spiritual and otherwise. I whine like the Israelites in the wilderness, even though God has always been with me to give me what I need. I focus on the difficulties and fail to see the resources around me that could help me not only survive, but even find joy in the midst of seeming deprivation. Oh, God, in this Lenten season of spiritual testing, help me to focus on your presence with me in the desert, and in the hearts and hands of those who walk through it with me, so that, when I fall down and fail, you may pick me up and give me renewed strength and life and joy. Amen.

- Kathleen Knaack