"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not stray from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

 

Tuesday was for the kids returning to school. Today is a perspective from the other side. Parents.

 

I can vividly remember standing at the bus stop the first day of school when my girls were in kindergarten and first grade. They had their new clothes and new back packs full of new pencils and paper. They had their little lunchboxes in their hands and were so excited they could hardly stand it.

 

When the bus came, I said, “Have a good day, girls”, and they waved over their shoulders without looking back, a wave that had a double meaning: 1. Bye daddy. 2. Don’t embarrass me in front of my new friends.

 

As the bus pulled away, I noticed one mother openly crying. I immediately went into pastor mode and said, “It’ll be OK. They’ll be just fine.” She just looked at me and without trying to hide the tears said, “Not even close. I’m crying because it’s been a long summer and I didn’t think this day would ever get here.”

 

I know her kids have long graduated by now, because mine have. So, this year she’s not standing at the bus stop giving thanks for the end of the summer break. In fact, parents this year are in a totally different place. They’re trying to figure out how to work and make sure their kids get their schoolwork done at home. (If that lady had that to face back in the day, I’m not sure she’d have made it through.)

 

Every school year parents get to go back through all the grades they’ve already passed once. The homework. The projects. Studying for test. They have a chance to learn what they missed from the first go round, and they get to learn all the new things that have happened in the world since their time in the desks.

 

This year pray for parents as they face this never before seen experience. Ask God to give them patience and a calmness in their spirit that says, “You can do this”, and then give them the strength to get it all done. Being a parent, an employee, and a teacher is a daunting task. And a noble one. Thanks be to God for all the parents who sacrifice so that their children can be “trained in the way to go”.

 

"Father, Thank you for parents and their commitment to the growth of their children. Give them the wisdom to teach the children Your way.  In Jesus' name, AMEN."

 

Grace,

 

Rev. Dan