Summer Is Over
For the most part, Summer is over and life is going to change for many of us. The children are back in school and life is back to a rigorous grind. For those of you who have smaller children and grandchildren, it might just be a welcome relief. The free form of Summer allowed families to travel a little more. On the other hand, it created a little stress as to what we were to do with the children while we had to work. Being back in school helps define that a little better.
For the kids, some are excited and some would rather be at home playing. But, all in all, it is a great time of the year. There is a lot of newness. New schools for some. New teachers. New friends. New challenges. As children grow and develop, there are new opportunities available, and that is sometimes exciting.
This is a great opportunity for all of us to encourage one another. Young parents need encouragement. Grandparents need encouragement. And, the children need encouragement. Every family is affected by one child in the family being in school. We need to be there for each other.
As parents and grandparents, we have an opportunity to help the younger folks shape and develop. They need our love and support on a daily basis. Some need our encouragement to make sure they are doing their work and doing it correctly. Some need us to just give them that little edge of excitement about school and it’s value. When they have a bad day, they need a loving hand or a kind word to help them through it. Hey, we all need that!
But, most of all, they need our prayers. It is important that every parent and grandparent pray for their children. Families need the support of prayer in whatever they choose to do in life. And, having a church family behind every family who meets together in the group is critical as well.
We are called together as a community of believers. Within that community we have parents, grandparents, teachers and students. All of us need the lifeline of prayer for one another. No one is exempt!
I know that there have been many times in my life when someone said to me, “I’m praying for you.” I can never recall being aggravated by the statement or thinking it out of place. It has always been a statement of encouragement and loving concern. And, our children, parents and teachers need that desperately.
We live in a world today where things are tougher than they used to be. Every generation has its challenges, but in today’s world, children are bombarded with things most of us did not hear of or experience until much later in life. That puts a lot of pressure on the children and on those who instruct them as well.
When a student misbehaves, it is not the same as it was forty years ago. Back then there was swift correction without so much as a blink of the eye. Today, you can go to jail for that. And, because of that, our children have a whole different set of values displayed before their eyes than most of us did. They need our support.
Summer is over and we are back to the grind of reality. But, even though Summer is over, the darkness around us is not. It grows darker day by day and God needs us to turn on some light. He needs us to encourage one another so that the darkness will not overcome one single person. We are called to be children of light and we have a responsibility to share in that together.
Pray for these parents, these teachers and these students. Encourage one another every time you see an opportunity. Listen to each other and find those areas of frustration and weakness. And, one day, when we sit at a graduation or a teacher retirement gathering, we will have full confidence that God listened to our prayers. Be an encouragement to someone, starting today!