"Listen . . . can you smell that?"
The opening line above is a quote from one of my favorite movies from the 1980s starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis. These three were on a mission to discover and capture the paranormal. As parents, you may feel like this sometimes when you do your children's laundry, clean out their closets, or underneath their beds. Taking care of your children keeps you busy and drives you every day, but what about when things and routines change?
Listen to what is going on around you right now. If you are reading this in the morning after your students have gone to school it is probably a bit quieter around you than it has been the past couple of months. If you are a coffee enthusiast like myself, you are likely currently enjoying a caffeinated beverage, or possibly looking forward to or dreading the Pumpkin Spiced season that is coming any day now.
Things are changing and your family is likely undergoing a shift in routine. I was telling our students recently that for them, this time of the year is, and can be, more significant than New Year's Day. It is this time of year that brings them promises of new friendships and relationships at school. New classes and new activities mean new friend groups and great potential for growth in more ways than one.
Some of your students have made the jump from elementary to middle school or middle school into high school. That is not just a change for them, but for you also. If the previous applies to you, as parents, you will be exposed to new teacher expectations and routines that you may not be familiar with just like your students will be.
Parents, there are those of you that need to be reminded that you are pretty awesome parents and you have done a great job leading your children. It is easy to be worried and yes you may have to help your children make some course corrections along the way, but know who you are and what you do is seen. You are not just paranormal investigators in hazmat suits working your way through the room of your youth age child. You are investing in what is your legacy.
As you adjust to new routines alongside your students and as you look forward to that first pumpkin spiced goody, or are currently strategizing on how to avoid said 'spice', be still and remind yourself of who you are in God's eyes. Remind yourself that you are God's child just as much as your own children are and that he is sovereign, in control, and your great provision.
Colossians 1:17 says, "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." God knows what is ahead this school year for your children and for you as well. As your children experience milestones and moments of growth, come alongside them, come alongside each other and lift each other up.
I am available any time you or your students need to just talk and get things off your chest. I love coffee, breakfast, Mexican food, and Chick Fil A. I would be happy to meet any of you at any time just to chat and get to know you or pray with you.
I am praying for you all this school year. May you be richly blessed.
John
