Mid-September.
The time of the year when the bloom is off the new school year rose. Lovely summer tans begin to fade. New shoes get scuffed. Spiffy school clothes lose their sizing in the wash. Haircuts go scruffy. The first wave of viruses rips through the classroom. Kids, who have been on their best behavior for days and weeks, begin to crack under the strain, and their true personalities begin to show.
Mid-September.
The time of year when every devoted teacher’s heart is increasingly tied up in knots. Because teachers begin to glimpse who their students are. They formulate an idea of what their students need. And the teachers who care–the ones who pour every ounce of their talents and skill and experience and training into their children–know that they can’t give their students everything they need and deserve. They know that despite their best efforts, they will fall far short.
That’s what mid-September is for teachers.
I know because I was a public school teacher for 25 years. Every year, in mid-September, I hit the wall. Every year, I thought the wall would be impenetrable. It never was, though some years getting through the wall was harder than others. Every year, I was convinced I would utterly fail the students God had entrusted to my care. That never happened, though some years my partnership with students was more effective than others. And every year, shortly after mid-September, I began to understand why penetrating the wall and forming a successful partnership with students was easier or harder.
The difference was prayer.
Not my prayers, because I prayed for two students per day throughout the school year. The difference was that some years parents sent notes or called to say they were praying for their children, for me, and for everyone who played a part in their kids’ educations. The greater the number of praying parents, the faster I got beyond the wall and the more successful my students were.
Why?
Not because I suddenly became more talented, more skilled, more experienced or better trained. But because the parents’ prayers were a reminder that I wasn’t alone. Other believers were standing with me and my students. They were praying for us. Their prayers untied the knots in my heart. Their prayers freed my students minds so they could concentrate on learning subject matter and social skills, content and compassion. Their prayers went up to God as an offering, and He poured them out on us as undeserved and very welcome blessings.
Mid-September is a good time to start praying for students and teachers.
If you haven’t already created an intentional, daily prayer plan for the school year, today is a good day to begin. Erin Mohring shares good ideas about how to start at Faith Gateway. Navigators gives excellent suggestions about how to pray for public schools in this post. Their prayer card bookmarks, which come in packs of 50 to share with others, are a handy resource too. If you want prayers specifically for your special needs situation, Different Dream Parenting: A Practical Guide for Raising a Child with Special Needs can help. It provides several thirty day prayer guides, one of which is for teachers and educators.
Mid-September will be gone soon.
Your child and your child’s teachers need your prayers now.
Today.
Every day this year.
Your prayers will make a difference now.
Today.
Every day this year.
And for eternity.
Your prayers will be answered now.
Today.
Every day this year.
And in ways you won’t see until eternity.
Mid-September is a good time to commit to praying through the school year. Will you begin now?
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[…] Pray for those involved in your child’s life at school. Your prayers make a huge difference in the lives if educators. For ideas about how and why to pray, check out the post Mid-September Is a Good Time to Pray. […]