school supplies and new possibilities

School Supplies!

his morning I turned on my computer to see literally dozens of “First Day Back to School” pictures and posts pop up on my facebook page. I knew this was coming, having seen scads of big, yellow buses scooting every-which-way while walking Scoutie before breakfast.

Rebekah and I may be out of that particular loop anymore when it comes to our own offspring, but we’re literally teeming with school-age children at church. The “back-to-school” energy was hard to miss this weekend.

It’s infectious, no matter what age we happen to be. Who doesn’t love a new box of crayons? A fistful of yet to be sharpened pencils? A clean eraser? A half-dozen spiral notepads? Some bright magic markers? A full container of Elmer’s glue? And a new back-pack?

My favorite – even though I do most of my writing on the computer – is still the fresh, clean notebook; unwritten but beckoning; a blank slate containing nothing but possibilities. It’s like an invitation.

Always ready for a fresh, clean start

TWO THOUGHTS TO GO ON:

• First, even though our children are young-adults now, and they buy their own pencils and paints and cars and iPads and suchlike, Rebekah and I did purchase a huge pile of school supplies – we do every year. Our church community is involved in an ongoing relationship with families who struggle to put food on the table, let alone buy back-packs and everything to fill them. This is something most of us can participate in, irrespective of the ages of our own children. If you haven’t, it’s still not too late. Believe me, there is ample room for your generous heart in the new school year.
• Then – again, no matter who you are or where you are on this journey – today (and each day) presents us with another new notebook, fresh and clean and stock-full of nothing but possibility. What we write in it has the opportunity to be beautiful, redemptive, and full with the life-charged life. So what are you going to do?

Peace and Promise, always – DEREK