4x-5y=-19
3x+7y= 18
Christian looked at the Hill of Difficulty and knew he had to remain on the straight and narrow path. He knew the importance of facing, experiencing and triumphing over difficulty as a means to arriving safely at the Celestial City. His two companions, and endless others, saw the easy paths which seemed to bypass the hill and they took those routes instead. Sadly, they became hopelessly lost and perished, never coming to the Celestial City. While those paths seemed easier, they were deceiving and were in reality, much more difficult.
So how does this translate in my life today? Let's talk about Algebra I. Last night I was in tears. I am able to get the right answer. "Doing" the Algebra is fairly easy for me. My trouble comes in "understanding" the Algebra. Why does it work? Yesterday, I came to a problem where I got the right answer. But when I tried to graph the problem it was making no sense to me. Immediately (and I mean immediately), I began to hear the enemy's accusations. "You are stupid. Why did you think you could do this?" I tried to bear up under the accusastions, to throw them off, to stand firm in what I knew God had told me." God has told me that He, Himself, created me. I am made perfectly, in His image. Therefore, I am not stupid. God doesn't make "stupid."
So I had a choice to make last night. Do I believe God or the enemy? Of course, after thrashing around awhile I decided to trust God. I sat down again with the Algebra. I figured out that I made a simple mistake, but something wasn't quite right yet. I called our tutor (who also happens to be our pastor). He told me to skip a few steps and instead to try a little trick. This little trick helped me understand the concept! I applied the little trick and voila', I was able to graph the problem easily. No, I am not stupid. Yes, I am on the right path. No, I should not put my high schooler into public school.
My high schooler and I are on the narrow path. Yes, it is hard. But it's easier than getting lost on the wide road.
I have LOTS of friends who hide from Algebra like it was the Big Bad Wolf. Some literally went through the course catalog at the university to find out which majors did not require ANY MATH. But these people are very smart, very successful (& they got degrees too!).
ReplyDeleteI personally LOVE algebra, but I don't think stupid has anything to do with math. Concentrate instead on being wise, or not being a fool (we could have lessons on that ALL DAY LONG). And keep on with the algebra tutor, as needed. You're doing great!