By the time this article is published, a new school year will have once again commenced in Freestone County.  Dew ISD started last week, Fairfield is starting on Wednesday, as well as Teague and others.  School buses are rolling, care pools are rushing, lunch boxes are being filled, and teachers are already praying for Christmas break!
Maybe you’re a parent reading this devotional and have just dropped off your student at school.  Maybe you’re a grandparent who has done the same or is looking at pictures sent of your grandkids in their “back to school” outfits.  Either way, it is an exciting, busy, and stressful time for many within our community.
To the parents and teachers who are bearing maybe a little more stress than they would wish, take comfort in the following words.  This time of chaos will soon mold into routine, the mornings of discombobulated disaster will eventually become a well oiled machine.  It is during these periods of adjustment that we must cling with an attitude of persevering grace.  The Bible says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The season of stress will turn into a season of genuine joy in God.  That is, if we allow Christ to illuminate the blessings within our life.  If we choose to merely wallow in the chaos, pout within the mess, we can miss the glory that comes from new experiences and moments.  Those mornings of getting your kids off to school become brief times in which you can set the tone for your child’s day.  Don’t wish that away, instead make sure your child, no matter how old, leaves the house knowing they are loved by you and by God.  Amazingly, those times of rushing and pushing out the door will become a devotional moment for your family.
I dropped my daughter off at daycare a couple of weeks ago.  Each morning it would be the same, she would cling to me and cry, breaking my heart every time.  Then we started singing songs in the truck on the way to school, or talking about what she is going to do today!  This past Monday, when we arrived at school, she grabbed her lunch bag and walked right into her classroom, letting go of my hand at the door and walking inside the classroom by herself.  She gave her teacher a hug and then waved at me and said, “goodby daddy.”  And just like that, the moments of crying, stress, and chaos were gone.  Peace had returned.
And Peace will return for you, my friend, if we just make the most of those moments with God.
Blessings to all our teachers and students this new school year!
Pastor Mike McVey
First United Methodist Church, Fairfield
ACS Chaplain – USCG Station Galveston
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Service
Cell – 9199352513