I want you to know that I am praying for you. I prayed for you months ago as the spring semester wound down, frantic with award ceremonies and parties. I prayed through my son’s tears as he tried to imagine life without his kindergarten teacher. I prayed for you before I knew who you were, before I knew your name.
I pray God’s best for you. Teaching is so hard. I know. And I pray for your year, your career to be meaningful and rewarding. I pray that your administrators and support staff will be helpful and will see your value. I pray for your home life to be supportive and refreshing, that it won’t add to the heavy burden you carry of leading and forming 22 little minds.
And, yeah, here’s the selfish bent of my prayer, I pray that you will absolutely love my child. That you will connect with him. That through that connection, you will find motivation in my boy. That in the motivation, you will see who he is, not what his problems are. See his strengths. See that he will probably be able to multiply numbers by the end of this year. See that he knows all the stages of matter and how to add negative numbers. See his tender heart and his honesty.
See my whole kid. All his head bumps, wiggles, and odd way of playing. All his affection, his compliments, his smarts. Please, attempt to find the balance between giving grace and expecting his best. It’s hard, I know.
Because I do have fears. I will probably have some every first day of school forever. What if he’s just not a good fit? What if he’s too intimidated to ask for a restroom break? What if she can’t see past his fidgeting? What if he gets stuck in a meltdown and he can’t get out? I’m praying against those fears. God has definitely given me my son, exactly as he is, in part to grow me closer to Him. So these fears, just like all fears God walks me through, are tools to lead me into further dependence on God.
So the only thing to do then, is to pray. Tap into the Ultimate Resource, the Sovereign Creator of all things, who also cares to love me and love my little boy. So I breathe in, remember this promise once again. That God is always good, always giving good things. And I place my child in His hands once again.
And I pray that He chooses to use you too, teacher, as His instrument to bless my son and be blessed by him, too.
Amazing. Yet again.