A special thank you to all who wrote or commented about last week’s column. Your name was entered into the August drawing to be held on Sunday, the 31st.
It’s August, enter your name for a drawing of The Stained Glass Pickup by sending me an email at writecat@consolidated.net. Or leave a comment at the end of this post.
Check out the new Christmas blog inspired by the co-authors of A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts ~ Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday by Cathy Messecar, co-author here.
Upcoming contests next month at this new site. Enter to win free books and a gift basket.
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Granddaughter Natalie begins Kindergarten on Monday. While thinking about this new path for her, I recalled my son and daughter’s first trek into public school.
My son walked into his classroom, settled in, and charmed his way into his teacher’s heart. Three year’s later I ripped my dress hem from my daughter’s grasp as she held on tight, tears streaming down her face which caused a torrent of sad tears on mine.
If your tear ducts need exercise, peer into a Kindergarten hallway on opening day. Empathy will kick in when you see little ones, clinging to knees, reluctant to venture into new worlds.
By the time children start to school, they have received instruction for five years in their homes. Some homes get high marks and others get failing grades. A home-trained child who respects his neighbor is a delight in the public system. A psalmist encouraged a familial education based on love. “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD” (Psalm 78:4).
These intentional stories about God are handed down so the “next generations would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children” (verse 6).
I overheard a rancher dad tell about driving his high school age daughter to school each day and praying aloud for her. My mind conceived a picture of a stained glass pickup puttering down the road and the gift that dad gave his daughter on school mornings.
I scurried kids off to school for over 25 years, counting the college years, and I recollect both frazzled and smooth mornings. Spilled milk, sticky pancake syrup, dawdling children, misplaced books, sick stomachs, a rattled mom or dad, and lots more can edge into morning routines.
Mishaps are reality, but a purposeful parent can be reality, too. On ill fated mornings, steering family around the chaos presents a loving precedent.
I recall a Kindergarten program, complete with foot lights, brightening only the stage. As children settled onto risers, many shaded their eyes and looked beyond the staged affair for their anchors in life.
Good teachers are better than best blessings, but parents are the ones honored with the task of equipping children with answers that will outlive school tests and diplomas.
The next time you stop behind an afternoon school bus and little kids get off, look at those eager faces. They are looking for their parents—the educators of their lives.
Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Bibles and Backpacks
This weekend in Texas, if you buy blue jeans for school, you will not pay sales tax. What a deal. Would you like to purchase something else without sales tax? Year round, you can buy tax-free Bibles in Texas, also tax exempt in Florida, Massachusetts, and Missouri.
A leader in Bible distribution is The American Bible Society: “to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so that all people may experience its life-changing message.”
The ABS formed in 1816, in New York City and early presidents included a Supreme Court chief justice and a New York City mayor. By 1817, the society gifted Bibles to the military crew of the USS John Adams. To this day, getting Bibles on battlefields is primary work. During Civil War years 1861—1865, Bibles were sent to the North and South armies.
Between 1940-1945, World War II, ABS provided more than 7.4 million scriptures to those serving in the U.S. armed forces. In 1991, they presented camouflage covered, compact Bibles to 300,000 serving in the Persian Gulf.
Early on, the society placed Bibles in hotels, and by the 1850s on steamships and railcars. Throughout the years, the society added Bibles to time capsule projects at World’s Fairs.
One of their major functions is translating the Bible into native languages. Within two years of formation, in 1818, the three letters of John were printed in Delaware Indian with English parallels.
For decades, the society has kept abreast of current technology, using slides, motion pictures, and radio and television broadcasting. Today, ABS at www.bibles.org offers Bibles and even downloads to cell phones.
Who will most influence your children this school term? The Weekly Reader poll, a leader in surveying teens, questioned 1,100 teens between the ages of 12-18 about influencers in their lives. Many, 67.7 percent, believe their parents to be the most significant role models. After parents were teachers, coaches, siblings and religious leaders.
Many school book purchases will be made in the next few weeks. Parents, each student could also use “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). A Bible in a backpack is a good idea. Traditional book or text on a cell phone screen, your children can have God, the best influencer of all, at their fingertips.
Do you have a favorite Bible? If so, how long have you had it?
Visit Cathy at www.cathymessecar.com
A leader in Bible distribution is The American Bible Society: “to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so that all people may experience its life-changing message.”
The ABS formed in 1816, in New York City and early presidents included a Supreme Court chief justice and a New York City mayor. By 1817, the society gifted Bibles to the military crew of the USS John Adams. To this day, getting Bibles on battlefields is primary work. During Civil War years 1861—1865, Bibles were sent to the North and South armies.
Between 1940-1945, World War II, ABS provided more than 7.4 million scriptures to those serving in the U.S. armed forces. In 1991, they presented camouflage covered, compact Bibles to 300,000 serving in the Persian Gulf.
Early on, the society placed Bibles in hotels, and by the 1850s on steamships and railcars. Throughout the years, the society added Bibles to time capsule projects at World’s Fairs.
One of their major functions is translating the Bible into native languages. Within two years of formation, in 1818, the three letters of John were printed in Delaware Indian with English parallels.
For decades, the society has kept abreast of current technology, using slides, motion pictures, and radio and television broadcasting. Today, ABS at www.bibles.org offers Bibles and even downloads to cell phones.
Who will most influence your children this school term? The Weekly Reader poll, a leader in surveying teens, questioned 1,100 teens between the ages of 12-18 about influencers in their lives. Many, 67.7 percent, believe their parents to be the most significant role models. After parents were teachers, coaches, siblings and religious leaders.
Many school book purchases will be made in the next few weeks. Parents, each student could also use “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). A Bible in a backpack is a good idea. Traditional book or text on a cell phone screen, your children can have God, the best influencer of all, at their fingertips.
Do you have a favorite Bible? If so, how long have you had it?
Visit Cathy at www.cathymessecar.com
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