Repost: Back to School, Part 2

Aug 13, 2014 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

 

On Tuesday, we posted Part 1 with 2 ideas for getting ready for the new school year. Here are 2 more ideas. I must admit, being out of this stage of parenting, I’m jealous. You and your children are going to have an awesome school year!! ~Jerolyn

 

2. Be Purposeful: I always tried to think of ways that I could pour words of wisdom into my children to help them with their day. Here are a few ideas.

• Put post-it notes in their lunches that told them their dad and I love them. Or sometimes just a drawing of a smiley face.
• Write notes on their bathroom mirror in erasable marker. They can be messages of love or Scripture.
• We would try to “get dressed” every morning. I don’t mean with clothes, although they did do that. Before we’d go out the door, we would put on the Armor of God (Ephesians 5:– the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, our feet ready to spread the gospel and peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit. Then one of us would say, “Are we dressed?” “Yes!” “What are we going to do for God today?” Then we would proceed to list our day’s activities because everything we did that day we wanted to do for the glory of God.
• As Jim or I would drop off the kids at school, we would leave them with a word of advice. “Smile today; someone may need it.” Or “You have to be a friend to have friends.” These little phrases must have made an impact because recently, our college student home on summer break dropped me off at work so she could have a car for the day. As I got out of the van she smiled and said, “Make good choices.” Your repetitive words of wisdom will become embedded in their hearts and minds.

3. Be Prayerful: If you do nothing else, send your children off to school with prayer. They face many challenges in their day and not all of them are academic. They need Scripture and prayer spoken over them so they know that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them. They need to be assured that nothing is impossible with God. They must know that they are not alone because our loving Father will never leave them nor forsake them. It is our job to instill the Word in our children’s hearts and to lift them and their day to the Lord every morning.

Make this new school year a time of new beginnings that will help shape your child’s life for this year and many years to come.

These were just a few ideas. How do you disciple your children during the hectic schedule of the school year?

~Jim and Jerolyn