Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Gift of A Child

Just when I think I'm over the hump and feeling better, excited even, about this upcoming school year, I see this...

Dear God, I thank You for the gift of this child to raise, this life to share, this mind to help mold, this body to nurture, and this spirit to enrich. Let me never betray this child's trust, dampen this child's hope, or discourage this child's dreams. Help me, dear God, to help this precious child become all you mean him to be. Let your grace and love fall on him like gentle breezes and give him inner strength and peace and patience for the journey ahead.
Amen.

This was handed out to parents last night at our back to school meeting. All faculty, staff and parents in attendance read this prayer together before meeting the teachers and visiting the classrooms. I barely made it through it without choking up. Thank goodness my 4 year was misbehaving just enough to keep me a little distracted.

For the second year, we have the honor and privilege of sending our children to a private Catholic school where the staff believes in not only nurturing the mind, but also the soul. I am not saying that we will always be able to do so, or that we necessarily think our children are getting a "better" education. I am not saying Catholic and/or private schools are the only schools that have teachers that wholeheartedly believe the soul is as important as the mind. We've also been a part of wonderful public schools and know better.

But, I am saying that there is something to be said about an entire community believing and stating in unison that their children are important, should feel hope more than discouragement, trust more than despair, and through grace and love should be allowed to flourish into exactly what they are meant to be.

True to my baptist roots, and again I say, AMEN!

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