You know those days when everything seems to go wrong and you just want to give up, sit down, and cry? Yeah, those days. I had one last week, but God sent me a moment of grace to put it in perspective.

It felt like swimming in molasses, never slowing down but not accomplishing anything, either. Disrespect from the kids didn’t help.

I sat down at the kitchen counter for phonics with one of my little girls and took a deep breath. Teaching a child to read requires patience; they learn at their own speed and sometimes it feels like a two steps forward/one step backwards process. This particular daughter struggles, still sounding out each letter most of the time.

I recently pulled out our dogeared set of Pathway Readers. Learning words and sentences in a phonics book is necessary, but there’s a thrill to reading stories. Over the years I’ve seen how these little books can bless a struggling reader.

As she reads the story, my daughter realizes that she can read whole words, putting them together all at once instead of sounding them out and building letter by letter. I feel her excitement build as she trembles, the words pouring out of her faster and faster.

And then I start to cry as this moment of grace washes over me, removing the morning’s frustrations and discouragement and leaving me ever grateful for sweet mercies.

Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord sends us a ray of hope sometimes, just when we need it most?