Giving Them More As They Walk Out The Door

School has begun & Dawson (& mom) have done really well these first 3 days, thank the Lord for that! Here's a picture of Dawson on his first day of first grade & a picture of Noah who wanted to "pretend" that he also was starting first grade (& insisted I take his picture too - WITH the backpack & Dawson's shoes on). The other is the bus stop picture with neighbor friends, so fun.

The realizations that this school year is one of transition, new school, new friends, riding the bus, etc..., made us wonder if we would face the same fears that started our year of kindergarten last August (check out the archives blog from Aug. 2007, whew!). But things have gone very smoothly so far & Daws seems to be adjusting great, enjoying his new teachers, making friends, & loves to get to ride the bus, he thinks that's so cool! Just like last year, his favorite time of the day is still recess...some things never change. (:

Years ago, my sister in law told me, "when your children go out the door every morning to school or wherever it is they're going, speak a word of blessing over them as they go, it's something they can hold onto for years to come." Troy & I often remembered that last year, and before Daws would walk out the door every morning, we would look him in the eye & speak a word of blessing to him. Maybe something like, "Dawson, remember you are a warrior for God's kingdom today," or "you can do all things through Christ," or "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world," or "Daws, God has called you to be a leader, & leaders love people, serve others, & are a friend to everyone," whatever it would be, it would be a word of truth that he could hide in his heart. Unfortunately there were many days, I'd forget to do that, or some days we'd be running so late, I'd be yelling it out the door after him as he ran to the car (I know, our neighbors probably thought I was strange, oh well!).

In listening to a parenting CD last week by a wonderful bible teacher Lynelle Zandstra, I was reminded that so often as our children leave our home in the morning, the first & maybe only thing we think to say is "have a good day!", I found myself doing that very thing again this morning. And there's nothing wrong with those words necessarily, but is that all we really want for our children that day? Is to have a "nice" day? Or do we want them to remember through the day, that they BELONG to God, that He has PURPOSE for their day, that He LOVES them so incredibly & is with them even when they can't see Him.

We're praying that as parents, we'll remember to speak blessing over our little ones (& big ones!) as they go out into the world each day. Let's give them MORE to hold onto to carry them through the good days & the kind of hard days too - let's give them the Word of Truth!

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11