Change… a word many wrestle with. A word that pulls us away from the comfort we have. A word that requires us to experience something new, something unknown, something different from the way that things have always been. Change requires us to let go a little, to be open to new experiences, to be willing to accept that things are not always going to be the same.
As school begins this month, many will face the changes that a new school year brings. Teachers will welcome new faces to their classrooms, students will be among different groups of peers, and bus drivers will no longer pick up those who have moved to middle or high school but will pick up eager 5-year-olds ready for kindergarten. Principals will have new responsibilities; Sunday School teachers will have the chance to share the word of God with bright new faces.
As children grow, they experience a great deal of change. Parents and grandparents watch as the years pass and each moment grows shorter. Children become teenagers, who become young adults, in the blink of an eye. While change is necessary and inevitable, it can be difficult. Things are not the way that they once were.
The good news is that change often reveals God’s plan for our lives. As children and teenagers grow, they become the people God created them to be. Their gifts and talents begin to shine. Their mark on the world starts to form. This year, as change approaches our students and staff, continue to cover them in prayer for all that they will experience and that the changes they face will reveal many blessings upon them.