Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it”
This morning my wife and I took my daughter to her first grade orientation. I remember going to school orientations as a child. It was all overwhelming and exciting back then. I remember looking for my desk and seeing if my friends were going to be sitting next to me. I remember looking at the art, diagrams, and instructions on the walls of the classrooms and wondering what they were all for. I remember meeting my teachers and wondering if they were going to be fun and exciting, or boring and draconian. Going back to school was exciting and scary all at the same moment. Today I watched my daughter walk through all of the emotions that come with meeting her new teacher and seeing her new classroom. Walking in she was shy and more concerned with seeing her old teacher and friends than meeting new ones. By the time we left she was ecstatic about the coming school year and all the new experiences she is going to have.
As a parent I reflect on this rite of passage that we call school orientation fondly. School and faith were always two sides of the same coin to me. Going to school and learning about math, science, history, reading, and the arts were exciting because they helped make my Christian faith come alive. I would learn in school about the history of the places that I heard about in sermons or described in Sunday school. I would gain appreciation for the classical music and beautiful artwork surrounding me in worship as I learned about the Renaissance and different architectural styles throughout history. I remember the moments when my spiritual and secular education would intertwine and I would have the “aha” moments that tied what felt like an ethereal faith to the tangible present.
Today as I contributed to the mountain of school supplies for a first grade class, and watched my daughter get excited again about school starting I prayed that school would be as joyful for her as it was for me. I prayed her teacher would have the patience and strength to lead and shape the young lives entering into her classroom to the best of her ability. I prayed that the whole class would have an incredible and wonderful year. Most of all I prayed that I would be the kind of parent that supported my daughter, her teachers, her classmates, and her school to the best of my ability. I pray that I play my part in starting my child off in the way she should go so that when she is older she will never turn from it.
As school starts back I encourage each of you whether you have children or not to pray for our schools and our teachers. The work that is done in these places is training our next generation up in the way that they will go. My hope is that they not only learn what is in the books, but that the learn the value of their education and put it to use to make the world better tomorrow than it is today.
Blessings and Peace,
David