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different issues in the past, and disobedience had come with a price, so I knew I had to heed His warning in order to steer clear of whatever danger was ahead.
    With great trepidation I withdrew Tyler from school, ordered curriculum, and tried to hire a tutor. Not one applicant qualified.
    For three weeks I woke at four every morning, wrote until nine, then started the school day. Tyler’s attitude showed significant improvement. I, on the other hand, was more exhausted and stressed than I’d ever been. I had no clue how I was going to make my book deadlines. Something had to give. Since I was committed to homeschooling Tyler, the only option I could see was to back out of my publishing contracts.
    Before telling my agent my decision, I talked to my pastor about our need for a tutor. He said he knew a man who might be willing to help. Later that week Dr. Lee came for an interview. He had several degrees, one in math. While waiting for God to open a door for him to become a pastor, he agreed to come to my home two days a week and work with Tyler on math. I found another qualified tutor who could come a few hours each week to teach history and science.
    Dr. Lee was a soft-spoken man, and he saw Tyler’s heart. He identified what was tripping him up, both in academics and in issues that had nothing to do with school.
    Tyler finished the year with outstanding grades, and I managed to meet my two book deadlines. Just as we completed our school year, Dr. Lee’s door of opportunity opened in another part of the country.
    When the new school year approached, I gave Tyler the choice to stay home or return to school. He chose to return. He needed to be homeschooled for eighth grade, and he needed to return to public school the following year.
    Tyler has become a better student and a better young man every year. Math clicks for him now. He gets good grades in his honors classes. He enjoys good friends and avoids bad ones. And he appreciates that God spoke up for him and that his parents did what it took to get him on track.
    Before we even withdrew Tyler from school, God had a plan of success for both of us. But I wouldn’t have discovered that if I hadn’t dared to obey.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
    Being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
    —T ITUS 3:7
From Miriam
    While my husband lined up our four little boys at the picnic table, I handed out paper plates full of goodies. The local milk company was sponsoring its annual picnic for milk producers and their families. Being dairy farmers, with cows to milk twice a day, we don’t get away very often. So this event is always a treat for us.
    A huge crowd had gathered, including the milk inspector. The sight of him made me anxious. Two weeks prior to the picnic, our farm had undergone its routine inspection. Similar to a restaurant inspector, a dairy inspector comes with a long list of items to check and standards that must be met. Failing to pass one of these inspections means the inspector may refuse to accept a few days’ worth of milk as a penalty … and all the milk will be dumped down the drain. The inspector would have to return and do another inspection before we could begin selling milk again.
    While my husband had cut hay, I’d worked hard scrubbing the milkers, the bulk tank, and the milk-house walls and windows. I’d scraped the cow stalls and spread barn snow, a white lime sand used to freshen the concrete floor. As far as I knew, everything should have passed the rigid inspection.
    But there we were at the picnic, and we hadn’t received the resultsyet. Usually no news is good news, but the suspense still affected me. We’d probably passed, but by how much? And what else would we need to do for the next inspection? The thought of all my hard work kept running through my mind, and I began to feel as if I just couldn’t take on that task again.
    As I sat down to join my husband and sons, the inspector walked up to our