A Letter to My Children As They Head Back to School

Kids, as you head back for another school year, here are 2 things I want you to remember:

#1.  You were created in the very image of God.

#2.  So was everyone else.

That's it.

You REMEMBER those 2 things and ACT as if you know them deep in your heart and I believe you will have mastered elementary school, mastered life, really!

If you remember that you were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 1:27) then it can roll off your back when someone out there tries to make you feel small or less than.  Know that your self-worth comes from God, not anyone else in this world.

But, just as you have been created in the likeness of God, so were the girls who tell you that you can no longer be in the "Cartwheel Club" at recess and the boy who always gets in trouble for misbehaving and the one who smells funny and the one who speaks no English and the one who dresses differently and the one who celebrates different holidays than our family does and even the teacher who speaks sharply to you for talking in line when you were not in fact talking.

All of them were created by God in His very image!  Learn to think of them like that, treat them like that and all other knowledge and skills pale in comparison!  This is why your Daddy and I send you to school, public school in particular. 

We can teach you to read and write and multiply fractions at home, but the loving people that are different than you, people that are hard to love, even, and developing the courage to make good choices for yourself even when others around you are making different choices?  Well, that stuff we can pray over, discuss, and encourage, but that stuff we cannot teach you at home, you must really live it to learn it.

Will it be hard?  And will you mess up a lot?  You bet!  There are adults who have not/will not ever grasp these 2 important concepts.  But, we want you to wrestle this stuff out now while we can be your soft place to fall, while your meals are still being cooked for you and there is no rent for you to pay!  

Is it hard for us as your parents to watch you go through hard things that we cannot fix for you?  Absolutely!  But, we are trusting that God is going to use those hard things to refine you.  Just as we can look to some of the tough times from our own lives and know that they made us better people, closer to God.  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

How do we know you will be okay at school without us with you?  Because God Himself is with you!  "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8.

Precious 5th grader, Precious 3rd grader, Precious 1st grader, and Precious Pre-K child, know that you are so very loved and we are so proud of you!  We can't wait to see the work God is going to do in and through your lives this school year!