It is hard to believe it is that time of year again. It still feels like summer, and kids everywhere have been sleeping in late for months. Tomorrow, a new school year begins. Although teachers have been preparing for a week or more, school-aged children are coming to grips with the phrases “It’s a school night,” and “You need to get up early,” once again. Some children are so excited they will hardly be able to fall asleep. Others are dreading the first day due to anticipation anxiety, lack of mastery of pre-requisite skills, or the sudden restrictions that arise from having to function within the school routine. Parents have been busily purchasing school supplies and lunchbox staples. Clothes are selected for that first day in their new grade or school. Like clockwork, the regularity of the seasons emerge one after another.
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease Genesis 8:22
Changing of the seasons is the time we often reflect on our own progress. We use terms like “the autumn of our lives” and “he is just a spring chicken” realizing we are all moving along in time with the same predictability as the seasons. We progress through the years, working our way through life, providing for families, loving our God, and loving each other. During all of our seasons, we are blessed.
He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills Psalm 147:8
Just as the excited children enter their school buildings on the first day, we enter into our own life seasons, year after year. We pray that each season is blessed and that we gain and understand new knowledge as God would want. We pray we grow nearer to Him and guide our own families along the path led by our Shepherd.
As we travel along, we might wonder silently, “What seeds have I planted? What have I helped to harvest? Where will the journey continue from here?” Although we do not know the future events of the new season, we can depend on guidance we gain by studying the Scripture.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you Psalm 32:8
We pray that we follow the path that God would choose for us. We pray that the youngsters heading out the door to the school bus, or leaving the car to greet their friends on the first day, will remember the guidance from home and from their own understanding of God’s word.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path Psalm 119:105
We pray for the safety of the children and their teachers and families. We pray for productive learning and meaningful activities. We pray for strong healthy growing bodies, and for caring relationships with friends. And finally, we pray for God’s protection and guidance for the new year.
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