A Moment to Pause …. Before the School Year Begins

Our kids go back to school in a couple of weeks, and in some ways I feel as if summer has just begun. I usually look forward to the beginning of the school year. It often feels like a second “New Years,” a fresh start we are gifted half-way through the year. However, I have one kid starting middle school which brings a fear of the unknown. Halls I haven’t walked in with him before, figuratively and literally. 

This same kid also just broke his arm, which means the first few weeks of school will mean sitting out of most activities. He can barely hand someone a pen to sign his cast, and in some ways, I already feel behind before the year is started thinking about his makeup work. Broken bones aside, there’s the endless of “back-to-school” tasks that HAVE to get done:

Haircuts for the kids.

Finish the back to school shopping.

Make a new chore chart for the upcoming year, and hope that this one will be the one that sticks!

Drink enough caffeine to fuel the brain as I scour the aisle looking for the requested 8-count pack of markers but it seems only 10-count boxes exist!

In these moments, let us pause…

Lord, in many ways we are anxious to get back into any kind of routine.

However, the school year brings more than just routine, it brings more work.

Paper work.

School work.

And just work.

A clash of excitement and fear that comes from sending our kids out, into the world, into classrooms.

Help our children thrive this upcoming school year. 

Help the teachers who pour into our kids day in and day out.

Help us to grow more into who you created us to be this year.

Help us to find peace when the back-to-school season can feel hectic.

Help us to remember there is a season for everything, and to be present in the one about to begin.

Thank you for new seasons and the promise you are with us each step of the way.