Tuesday; August 23

I am not sure when your young people will head back to school, but those in Southern Maryland are beginning to trickle back into the classrooms. After a couple years of weirdness, the fall of 2022 is beginning to resemble – in some ways – a more routine year. Yet, while things are moving toward “normalcy”, our young people and their teachers need our support and our prayers. With this in mind, here are a few prayer themes that might be beneficial.

1. Safety – It is a shame, but for many of us the biggest challenge we see in schools is the exposure of children to danger. Let’s pray that our students and staff stay safe.

2. Focus – The essence of school is to teach our children how to be successful. Unfortunately, schools have out grown the basics of reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. Schools can be a positive environment for a lot of children, but first and foremost they are institutions for education.

3. Enjoyment – This may sound a little off the wall, but school should be a place where children have fun. They get to make new friends and experience new things. Through the years we have tended to take the fun out of school, could it be that’s why our children are losing interest?

4. Growth – While academics are important, schools also provide children with a way to develop in other aspects of maturity. They learn how to interact with others who may not look like or think like them. They begin to develop problem-solving skills. When they step outside their comfort zones in a controlled environment, they sow the seeds of wisdom that will serve them well through the years.

James reminds us that, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:16). Let’s band together and pray that 2022 will be a great year for both staff and students.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more