Jacob's Failed Test

As we were leaving school this afternoon, Jacob told me he failed a test. Failed in 3rd grade is to get a "3" on your test. You want a "1". When we got in the van, we went over the test questions and Jacob got every one right (when I asked him, but not on the test). In fact, there was even one question that he got right on the test but when it came time to enter it on the "bubble sheet" he was in such a hurry that he copied the wrong answer down (I cannot condone this, but I can understand it because as an elementary student myself I was always in a hurry to be the first one done. The thing is....I usually got the answers right when I hurried, wrong when I went slow). So back into the school we went. I wanted to ask his teacher for more homework on graphs. So we got the additional work and headed home. Obviously, I told Jacob I was disappointed because I knew he could do it and he just didn't. After I said all that, I thought about it. I thought it would have been better if I just asked him if he really did his best, and if he said he did then.....well you did your best. So, despite the fact that I already told him I was disappointed, I decided to ask him if he thought he did his best. I was shocked to hear him respond "No, I didn't". So we had another discussion on how bad that really was. I knew he could do better. He knew he could do better. And yet, he did not do well at all. I think that conversation resonated the most with him. For whatever reason, he seemed to understand. Thank you Lord for giving me the idea to ask him. Sometimes the right thing comes at the wrong time. With me, it happens more than it should. Jacob will be spending the next couple of afternoons studying graphs instead of shooting hoops. Bummer for him.