Dear Reader:

It is hard to believe that today is the day! School is back in session! Wired, but exhausted students and teachers, are getting back in an old familiar routine for many and for others…they are entering the frontier, the unknown, for the first time.

( I taught for almost 30 years in the classroom and I never slept the night before the first day of school….terrified I would over- sleep.  It is just not the students who have this problem. *That is why I used to like it when the students came on a Thursday instead of a Monday for the school kick-off day. After two days all the excitement and pumping adrenaline were gone… caput! Teachers and students then needed the weekend to rest up for the next full week)

“Frontier Day” describes Eva Cate’s situation this year….she is entering first grade today. The first grandchild is entering public elementary school. I am actually emotional over it and know the tears will probably fall with the annual morning ‘first day of school’ photo. Eva Cate is excited but still probably the calmest one around…*She already told John that he could just drop her off at school….she could find her room. Miss Independent!

*Morning Insert: John just sent the photo of Eva Cate and Jakie all ready for school. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Facebook will be filled to the brim today of everyone’s back-to- school children and grandchildren’s pictures. It is an important benchmark photo day….the best way we see time and its consequences each year as our little ones slowly turn into big ones, then adults in their own right. And the cycle starts over….

Yesterday our pastor, Jeff, called up all the children for the children’s sermon and he reminded them to bring their backpacks if they had them. He, then, called up all the teachers and college professors to participate also. (All us veteran teachers remained seated with a smile of relief on our faces! I uttered a silent prayer of blessings for each one of those teachers…and then thanked God for His personalized blessing to me… retirement!)

William Veal, a congregational member and college professor, took his briefcase up to the front, when called, for the blessing ceremony. When William returned and sat down he attached his newly acquired tag to his briefcase. Anne and I loved it…she took a quick picture as everyone was returning to their seats.

Jeff performed a litany with the children and teachers….after each verse they all responded with “God is with me.” Jeff gave examples of good days and bad days at school, good grades and bad grades, friendly children and bullies…..but through it all “God is with me.”

*I was waiting for one of the children to ask Jeff if God could take a test for him/her since He was there anyway….all the time “with them”. (You can tell I was a precocious child….the kind that the teacher deliberately never spotted raising her hand.)

I love the tag our church gave each student and educator….what a wonderful send-off gift to let each child/teacher know that his/her church family, under God’s watchful eye, is cheering everyone on for  a successful school year! The Celtic Cross just finishes it off.

So until tomorrow…Let us remember that we rise only by lifting others.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delights of the Day: I always love photographing these beautiful velvet looking lilies…it makes me feel like I have painted it every time I photograph it.