Off to the Races!

The new school year has begun and everyone has hit the ground running.  Sports team try-outs began last week already, so we have a young man and lady trying out for the boys and girls soccer teams and cross country, and the eldest lady trying out for the high school junior basketball team.  These are exciting days with new schedules, new teachers, new school supplies, new running shoes, hopefully some new friends, and new enthusiasm.  September is an exciting month but I always find it one of bittersweetness.  We had an absolutely beautiful summer.  The weather was lovely, we enjoyed amazing quality time together as a family, and now we are back in the thick of "it".  I'm always sad to see summer go...

September brings the beginning of another year of growing and watching the kids take another step towards greater independence.  That's a good thing, I think, but as a mom it's always tough to cut loose more strings and step back and let them experience things for themselves.  I suppose it's a mom's instinct to want to protect her children and to try to prevent them from making the same mistakes I made, but making mistakes is how we learn and grow.  If I never let our kids struggle or experience failure, they'll be missing out on important learning opportunities.  I'm learning that helping our children go through those times is a blessing for them and myself.  It's giving me the opportunity to point them to God.  I can show them that He can supply all their needs and that He can be the constant help and the one that will never let them down.  I want them to rely on Him, not me.

Well, although the beginning of another school year is bittersweet, it's also wonderful.  I'm so thankful for the Christian schools that our kids have the pleasure of attending.  I'm thankful for the godly teachers who pour themselves into their work and their students.  I'm praying God will bless all the teachers and students with perseverance and diligence.  I know that God will continue to supply all our needs as a family and that during this school year He'll never give us more than we can handle.  I pray that everyone reading this will be encouraged to keep on keeping on.

I think as a Christian parent I'm great at telling my kids what to do.  I often have answers for them, but I don't always take my own advice.  I tell my kids, "just do your best for God!"  A parent can't ask more from their child.
What does that mean for me?  Well, when I'm dreading that alarm clock and the routines of this fall, I will keep on telling myself to be the best wife and mother I can be...for God.

"But by the grace of God I am what I am..." (1Cor 15:10a) ~ came across that verse this morning...I know it's only part of what Paul is saying in that text, but I like it...

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."  (1Cor 15:58)

"Look out Trinity...Here we come!"

(Sorry Amber, no picture of you heading off to King's...I know you're terribly disappointed♥)