It's Back to School!

It’s back to school time for most children. Depending on how you look at it as a parent, it can be good and exciting, expensive, or sad.

The kids are going back to school, here are some thoughts:

• Getting out from under your feet.
• I’m going to miss having them with me each day.
• Schedules get more hectic. 

• The Holidays are here, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• How much does the back pack cost?
• New shoes, clothes and all the required lists of supplies.
• Worried if your child will make friends in school.
• Worried your teenager will make the wrong kind of friends in school.
• The first day of school for kindergartners or preschool.
• Lunches to fix, breakfasts to plan, hopefully a sit down dinner
• Ballet, dance, cheer leading, gymnastics, soccer, football, yearbooks, clubs

Are you tired yet? Maybe within the next day or two you will have your first cup of coffee in silence after a busy noisy summer. No matter how you look at it, the time has come.

For me, and I don’t have children in school, it is still the time of year to set some new schedules for myself. Somehow even if you don’t have children, the new school year affects you, especially if you get caught in a car pool line.

Unfortunately in today’s world we worry about a lot of other things too. Some of them not pleasant at all:

• School shootings
• Abductions
• Bullying

So how are we going to handle this mixture of happy times and worry? There is only one answer, prayer. As parents, grandparents, teachers, aunts and uncles we prepare our children the best we can to handle all the situations that they may be faced with during their next step in life. Then we need to let go, let God handle the rest.

Prayer is the only way we can bring calm to our lives and not worry ourselves sick about life. I am a worrier, my husband says I live in fear, and I guess I do. If there is a dark side to a situation I can see it. That doesn’t mean I’m negative, it just means I can see the dark side. So what do I do when that dark side is showing itself to me? I pray. I pray that I am wrong and the darkness I see never happens.

As the new school year begins, I suggest we pray, and pray very diligently. Pray for the children, their safety, for them to have open minds and protection. Pray for the schools and their teachers and staff.

Prayer will make this year a great year for the children. Let’s use what tools God has provided to us.

Please pray.