As The School Bell Rings

Encouragement to share with all of our children who can be a light for others.

"We can stand out by how well we love." What advice are you sharing with your kids as they enter the new school year? #klove #faith #backtoschool

Wrote this as my oldest started high school. Today my youngest will be walking the same halls. God bless our children.

Philippians 4:7 (NIV)

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Father,

Do you remember my first week of high school? Everything was a little overwhelming. While I was friendly, I had always been shy and quiet and there were over 2000 students at my new school. I was excited about most of my classes, but nervous about 1 thing in particular. LUNCH. It sounds funny to say that now, but there were 3 lunch periods in the Commons and all of my good middle school friends were in a different one. The first lunch was painfully awkward, I sat in one of the few open spots at the end of a long table. Everyone near me seemed to be so happy to be talking with friends, but I didn't say a word. I ate my lunch in less than 5 minutes. I got up with no particular place to go. So I decided to go to the 1st Floor Orange Bathroom. I walked in and a bunch of girls were smoking inside. Realizing I had just walked into someplace worse than the sea of strangers outside in the commons, I hurried into a stall. One of the girls knowing I was out of place said for her friends, " I suppose someone hasn't told all the freshmen that this bathroom is off limits to them." I couldn't wait to get out of there. I am pretty sure they all laughed at how quickly I left the bathroom. (I never went in it again in my 4 years of high school. Not sure I would even as an adult.)

I remember crying that night, not wanting to go back to school, not over my classes or anything else, but that stupid lunch period. The next day, I thought it might be better to just walk around than to actually eat. I could wait and grab something when I got home. Day 2, this 20 minutes was about to become the longest 20 minutes of my life. Finally, I saw Sarah. I remembered her from a few years ago. She was quiet like me. We had a class in middle school together. She was sitting with her older sister who was a senior and another boy who had a mustache so I knew he was way older. There was an empty chair and I said hello. She asked if I was sitting with anyone. Thank You God for the empty chair.

Many of our children are looking for their own place to fit in, their own empty chairs. Make a place for them Lord, lead them through the sea of new experiences. Guard them when they wander into wrong places. Help them find their way, to Your path, and your spot just for them.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Such an amazing devotion and reminder about prayer as parents. If you or friends have sons or daughters graduating.... this is powerful If not, still powerful..

Praying for a Job Praying for a Job I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My loving eye on you. — Psalm 32:8 I can’t tell you how many parents, when they heard I was working on this book, let me know they had a story to share. I

Thank you Father.

Put on your mask and then assist your children.

None are perfect except the one who was sent to save us.

As mothers, we expect a lot from ourselves. Monday mornings are often a tough window for our family. The weight of a long week with busy schedules and tasks seems fairly daunting when Monday rolls around. I don't think I am alone on this one. As the Alarm/s sound, I am tempted to hit "snooze" especially on Monday. Those couple of extra minutes often cost me double in the amount of time spent rushing and announcing to the kids they only have a few more minutes or we will all be late. My emotions are usually hijacked even if I can keep the exterior calm for the collective family. I am always hopeful that pre-planning Sunday night will help and it will be better next Monday, but somehow I repeat the patterns of Mondays past.

My days go so much smoother, when I start with You, Father. Quiet Time is so much better than the 30 minute snooze. It fills me and refreshes me in a way rest may not. And yet, I battle the snooze for my time with you when the days are long. Please give me the wisdom in my groggy frame of mind to know You are waiting for time with me.

But a wild as any Mondayest, Monday will ever be, I am reminded this morning that I will never be a SuperMama, but I can put my trust in a Super God. Father, you are calm when I am frazzled. You are able to do all when I am tripping over the small details. You see the forest when I am lost in the trees.

Thank You Father for being our real Superhero. We praise You for all You do and for walking with all of us on Mondays and every-days. May we bring glory to You in the week ahead.

In Your Son's Name We Pray, Amen.

9/11 Never Forget...

Jeremiah 39:17

17 But I will rescue you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Most of us who remember that day know where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. In my lifetime, nothing seems to have shaken us to our core as a nation like the moments surrounding 9/11. I remember snapshot memories from the day. Hearing the news on the radio described in confused disbelief….Standing in my office on campus watching along with a handful of students and staff just in shock staring a little TV set we plugged in to see what might happen next,…. Picking up my infant daughter from daycare and hugging her tightly wondering what the world would be like for her …. Watching with my husband, the countless images from the television of people running, people lost and covered with ashe…. Praying for people searching for loved ones…Seeing the wall of pictures and flyers for the missing and unaccounted for from the Towers. We were a nation in shock, a nation grieving and searching for answers.

But evil didn't win that day....

The moments that followed were as united and full of brotherly love as anything I have experienced in this country. Whether it was words and gestures of love toward all of those around us or compassion shown through outpouring of people offering help, offering to join the search, to give blood, send water, supplies, and money. Everyone was focused on doing whatever we could think of doing to reach out and offer comfort and encouragement to those in the ripples closest to the impact of each life lost. We were a country who found strength in the most humble broken place.

Flying on a plane across the county a couple weeks later, I remember the pilot promising the passengers that he would do everything in his power to be sure we arrived safety. The passengers all applauded.

In the last couple of days with the anniversary of 9/11 on the horizon, I have had quiet moments with each of my children asking them what they know of that day which happened before most of them even were born. Most had some idea, but we talked quietly with each one not just about what happened, but why we remember.

You teach us Father the importance of telling future generations what we learn from the past.

While there are many stories to share about this moment in time, there is one story touches my heart so deeply even now. It is the story of Flight 93's Todd Beamer. In his phone call from a plane designed to become a bomb aimed at the White House filled with human cargo, he did something that most of us hope that given the opportunity, we would have done. He and others on his flight decided to fight back. In the moment he decided there was hope that day. There was a risk worth fighting for that day. And there was a battle to win that day. Just before he and others on that flight became the first soldiers on America's war on terror, in his last known words, he said,

"Are you ready?.... Let's roll."

The spirit of this great nation is captured in those words. A spirit found in Psalm 118:6 "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" You remind us Father to never succumb to fear. Your war is already won. We are simply living in the time between the end of the war and when the soldiers come home. There are still battles waging and soldiers are needed to stand in the gap and bring others home to victory. In Psalm 27:3 You tell us, "Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident." You are our confidence. You are our promise in every battle.

Most of us will never know the sacrifice and the hardship of the loss that was felt that day.We pray that most of us will never know what it is like to be a passenger on one of those planes; or to be trapped on one of the highest floors in the towers or to be in the cloud of debri from the crumbling towers. That day was not just about terror. It was a day of bravery in the face of fear. It was a day of the courage shown by those running into the buildings to save others. When the worst happened and evil seemed to win, the Rescuer of all Rescuers was ushering His children home to the bosom of Abraham in paradise.

We pray not only for those lost that day and the families left behind, but also for those who have fought against terrorism in the years that have followed. We continue to pray also for the battles we face even today against forces of evil.

If our children are to find a message in 9/11 for their own generation, let it be a message of hope, of a victory already won, of battles worth fighting, of lives saved, of honor and respect given, of a country standing in the face of evil… and winning. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:55)

Are you ready? Let’s Roll.

In HIs Holy Name, we remember, Amen.

Lifting prayers for calming the storms and the people impacted by them.

Your mountains are waiting.

Dear Heavenly Father,

It has been a busy week with my four children starting back to school. Somehow keeping all of the balls in the air seemed easier last spring than it does today. Thank you for your strength and your grace. An abundance has been poured out this week on my family. I know that life will not slow down, but you help me to find our routine. Help me to remain faithful to pray over my children and those that surround them. I know when I lay my burdens down, you will order my day, guide my steps and if I fail, you will lift me up when I fall. When life seems to rush in from every direction, thank you for staying close and whispering in my ear, " I've got this."

In Jesus Name,
Amen

Remember who is always with you.

Saving for later

Why We Should Teach Empathy To Improve Education (And Test Scores) Empathy matters. And it needs to be taught in schools. I've seen, read and written this before, but I wasn't quite convinced until earlier this week when I plugged into an episode of "This American Life" on a bus to New York City. Episode 474: Back to School. Cognitive development has [...]