Back to School

After a summer of activity, it is strangely quiet. No more children's voices next door during the middle of the day. No bicycles going up and down the sidewalk as I take my morning walk. No grandchildren calling to say "Can we come over?" School has begun and our neighborhood feels the impact. The cycle of life goes on--

As i think about the beginning of the school year, I am reminded of all the possibilities that lie ahead. Our children will be once more involved in the official learning process, although the unofficial learning process never stops. Sometimes we forget that learning, whether in the form of formal education, or in the form of life itself always goes on. I get excited when I think about this. There are so many new things we have yet to discover about who we are and how we fit into God's great creation and about creations itself.

As our children begin this school year, I pray that we teachers, families and friends, will nourish their joy of learning. I pray that we will set an example of excitement about discovery--learning a new word, a new way of doing something, learning a new skill or honing one already acquired. I pray we will help them understand that the classroom is simply a part of the learning that goes on within them all the time.. I pray we will listen to them hear their stories and then celebrate with them and sing with them. And when times are not so joyous, I pray we will hold them in their frustrations and be patient in their need to voice what is going on. I pray that we are wise enough not to give them answers so much as give them love.

I believe that we all have a part to play as our children walk into that new classroom with their backpacks full of new colors, new folders, new ideas, hopes and dreams. I for one plan to do my part--how about you?

Pastor Jan