A New School Year and the Blessing of the Backpacks

The new school year is about to begin.  Over the weekend, our living room floor was covered with new school supplies.  My children carefully lined up packs of paper, binders, markers, pencils, pens, and other necessities.  They carefully labeled each one and placed each in the proper holder, ready for our “meet the teacher” day.   A new energy fills the house when the school supplies show up.  Though we are sorry to see summer go, we are excited about the year that is ahead.  We seem to everything we need and just in time.

I have a feeling that this is the same in many homes across our community and across the nation.  We have prepared with school supplies, uniforms, lunch boxes and backpacks.  But have we prepared with the most important thing: Prayer?  Is prayer for our students, teachers, administrators, and support staff an afterthought or a priority?  Oswald Chambers is credited as saying, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.”

When I was teaching school I learned a great lesson from a colleague.  At the beginning of the new school year, she would call the parents of each of her 125 or so students.  She would introduce herself and ask about some extra ideas to help each child succeed.  That set the tone for a positive school environment for the whole year.  If she had to make a phone call to deal with a negative issue later, at least the first call (and the first impression) had been a positive one.

What if we all did the same thing for our TEACHERS this year?  What if we take the first step in letting our teachers, administrators and support staff know that we have prayed for our children, their teachers, and all involved in the school?  We could let the teachers know that we appreciate them and we are here to support them in a partnership in the education of our children and community.  What a wonderful way for all of us to start the school year.

At Fairhope UMC we will celebrate the beginning of the school year with a “Blessing of the Backpacks” in all services on Sunday, August 14.  We encourage all students to BRING YOUR BACKPACKS TO CHURCH!  We will pray for you, your teachers, and all involved in our schools this year.  Just as we have covered our homes in school supplies, let us cover those materials, our school, our homes, and all involved in the education of our children with prayer as well!