This morning I could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air.  It was as if the entire city was more awake and tuned in than we had been since late May.  I was imagining homes with little kids putting on new outfits and shoes and standing in front of the fireplace for first day pictures (we don’t do those at our house anymore – I miss that!).  On my drive in I saw kiddos out at the bus stop and everyone was driving carefully.  Nearly every post on Facebook today has pictures of my friends kids or comments of anticipation and hope for a good year.  I love all of this!  I love the memories I have of my first days of school, new school supplies, new clothes – rushing in to see friends I had missed all summer.  I also loved the opportunity to start over again provided to me with each new school year.

All of these happy thoughts were swimming around in my head as I drove to work so that is why I was a bit blindsided by the tears streaming down my face a couple hours later.   The shift in my mood started after I checked signals with my friend Jenn about how the first morning had gone for her sweet kids.  She was beautifully transparent and admitted some anxiety about their first day of middle school and high school.  After we talked I was saying a prayer for them and then decided to send Chase a text with a prayer I had said for him.  That got me to thinking about Conner and how he didn’t need me to wake him up for school today and before I knew it I was reaching for a box of tissues.  My prayer for my boys and for the children of those I love went something like this…

Heavenly Father I want to thank you in the most sincere and complete way for the privilege of raising the children you have blessed us with.  It is an honor to be trusted with their care and I pray you will continue to offer us guidance and support through the good and bad days of parenting.  As our children begin a new school year, please place friends in their paths that will help strengthen their relationship with you.  I pray that the friends they choose are focused on healthy choices and that together they enjoy their time in school.  Please give them teachers who are alert to their needs and dedicated to their education.  Please keep them focused on all the amazing opportunities they have been blessed with and help them not squander those aimlessly away!  If they are driving to and from school, please keep that route clear of hazards and help minimize their distractions.

Lord, I aim to let go of my human, motherly desire to be in charge of their lives.  Help me rest in the peace of knowing long ago you fashioned a plan for their lives that will bring glory to you and good for them.  My only prayer then should be that they grow in their relationship with you so they can receive all the peace and goodness you have planned for them.  AMEN!