New Beginnings

I must start out saying I have been MIA for a bit. Sometimes we just have to take a little time and get off the "roller coaster" and experience things in a different way. Refreshed now, I am ready for new beginnings for all of us.

The first days of school seem so filled with hope and excitement. A feeling that cannot be explained but just must be lived. For me, it's quite similar to the feeling I get after New Years and even Easter. I can mess up, but I am a part of something great out there, and have times I can start again. After Easter, the hope is compounded with the fact that there is a God who loves me enough to send give his son, but that's a whole different post. :) Plans are made for school, schedules done, with the knowledge in her heads that we will have times where all organization will fall by the wayside for a day or so, and that is where God often works in magnificent ways. We have hopefully figured out what worked last year and what didn't, and made all of our necessary tweaks. For homeschooling parents, we have planned, adjusted curriculum choices, all new beginnings. For those of us who work at home, the routine changes when the children are in school or homeschooled. MORE new beginnings. Excitement. Possibilities.

Guide your children and encourage their areas of strength. Challenge yourselves as I'm challenging myself this year (another new thing!). Take their area that may seem like a weakness to you and help your child use it as a strength. For example, the child who may seem to take a long time with work and be very detail oriented may exasperate a parent in this rush-rush society; yet, there are many professions where a detail oriented person is considered to be of extreme importance. We must help our children see these things as we prepare them on the path they will ultimately choose.

This day, or whenever you are starting, take time to be thankful for your child, no matter how little or even a teen. You gave birth to an awesome person there and now they are relating to you. They have opinions on things from fashion to politics and everything in between. Think of your favorite qualities about your child. Even share them. One of my daughters is able to see the humor in anything and will often bring a smile to our face in the midst of what we might think is a mess. The other one is a deep thinker and often challenges us. Something good for a parent, also! I'm thankful for them and can laugh with my husband that we gave birth to awesome kids!! God is good.

So, send your kids off and in school knowing they are loved for who they are, and they have qualities that we really find endearing. Enjoy this time of new beginnings and possibilities.

Enjoy your new beginnings in work, life, and allow God to work through you-
Denise