A Few Words for the First Day of School
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT
As the first day of school quickly approaches, feelings of anxiety mixed with excitement and apprehension fill the air and invade my home. Summer reading is completed and gathered school supplies lay in piles around the house. It’s the beginning of a new school season.
As a mom, I will miss the long, unscheduled, free summer days. I cherish the summertime with my kids and my husband who actually works reasonable hours during the summer months!
As a teacher, I look forward to being with the students again. Administrators worked all summer to get the facility ready, make and create schedules, and find amazing new faculty and staff. Many teachers trained over the summer in their specialty areas and last week intense teacher training and final preparation took place.
A very special connection occurs within the school community as we all come together to pour into students from PreK-12th grade. Everyone on campus is prepared for today and looking forward to an amazing school year!
As a teacher and a mom, I feel a mix of excitement and apprehension. I know that before this school year even begins, I need for it to slow down. I have a freshman and a senior in my home. Every moment of this school year will be sweetly savored.
Together, the teacher in me and the leader in my husband can’t help but share just a few words to prepare the hearts of our children and students. Regardless of which school you or your children attend, here are just a few keywords to share for this new school year:
1. Start Strong to Finish Strong. Commit to starting this school year strong by arriving to class on time, being prepared with assignments and necessary materials (get ready the night before), and engaging in the learning process. If you stay organized from the beginning, do your homework, and start out with good grades, you will maintain a steady pace this school year. Own it. The gift of education is yours. The goal is to finish strong.
Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 2nd John 1:8 ESV
2. Take Care of the Little Things. Put papers, pencils, planners, etc. back where they belong so you can keep an organized backpack, locker, car, bedroom, and study space. A clear study space will help you have a clear head to complete home assignments. Everything should have a place. Bring necessary materials to class (and maybe an extra for a friend!). Finish assignments neatly and turn in your best work. Everything you submit for grading and every choice you make represents you. The rules in each teacher’s classroom are put in place for your success. Following the rules is a little thing that when not done can turn into a big thing. When you take care of the little things you represent yourself, your family, and your school well.
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:9 NASB
3. Be All In. Just as your teachers (and parents) go to work, so do you. Your teacher’s job is to inspire you every day to creatively acquire new content and knowledge. Your job is to be all in. Be present. Be engaged. If you’re not present (physically/emotionally/mentally) you cannot participate and engage in the activities and content presented to you. Try to focus and do your job to the best of your ability. School is training for real life.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 NASB
4. Make a Positive Impact Every Day. You can be a difference maker. Remember what it was like to be a first-year student. Reach out to someone new and ask him/her how she is doing? Invite him/her to eat lunch with your friends. Put an extra pencil in your backpack for the person beside you who forgot one. Open a door. Try to do one kind thing each day. Thank your mom/dad for making your lunch or driving you to school. Thank the chef. Thank your teachers. Thank a coach or trainer. Make an effort. You will make an impact and make a difference in someone’s life. Appreciation goes a long way. You are at school to learn, but you are also there to make an impact. You can be a difference maker!
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Colossians 2:7 NLT
5. You are Not Alone. First of all, every student has the same butterflies (or dragonflies) in his/her stomach. You each feel the same way. Even Headmasters and teachers get butterflies and/or dragonflies!
Most importantly, you are not alone because God is with you always. He was with you at home, He was with you in the car on the way to school, He is with you in the classroom before, during, and after every assessment and/or presentation. He is with you on the field, in the locker rooms, and on the court. He is always with you.
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 NASB
You’ve got this because God’s got you. Let Him lead. He wants you to follow Him and when you do, everything else will fall into place.
And this we pray for you…
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:14-21 NASB).
May this be an Ephesians 3:20 kind of year.
You are loved!
Mindy XO
Basking in His Light
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