It’s been over a month since I’ve written. Much has happened. We’ve successfully run Oasis Kids, the children’s program at Oasis, the new incarnation of the annual assembly for the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches. We’ve also successfully run another years’ Vacation Bible Camp, having almost 150 children and at least 1 coming to faith in Jesus during the week and another after week’s end. I will write about these later.
Today is the first day of school. Rather than write an ordinary post, I wanted to write a letter to Caleb, Katie and Reuben who all are beginning school today.
Caleb: Today is the first day of your second year of school. Somehow your first year flew by and the summer with it. You are a fantastic student, a joy to have in the classroom according to Mrs. Willoughby, your teacher from last year. As I look back over the past year to when you began last September in grade primary, much has changed. You began school unable to read and now you read constantly. Your stories and pictures have matured greatly, and more so, you’re interest in the world and how the many things in it are made and function has changed. You are an extremely intelligent person, and I can see God has given you this gift, and I know he will be growing you even more in that area. Sometimes I am uncertain how to relate to your fear of people; I know that you are shy, and that you find new situations and new crowds frightening. I wish I knew more how to help. My prayer for you this year is that your fear will lessen, that your passion for learning will increase, and that your love for God and his Word will grow. I am very proud of you.
Katie: I can hardly believe that you begin school today. You are our only girl [so far] and the idea of releasing you out into the world frightens me more than anything ever has. I am very proud to have you as my daughter, your compassion and love for people is extremely evident, and I know that this is a gift God has given you. You have the ability to meet new people and new environments with great joy. You have a sense of when people need you, and you seem to know how to relate to their fears. I know that you will be a great asset to your classroom and your teacher. I know that you will do well academically, and soon will be able to read, but what I most look forward to is watching God develop and grow you as a compassionate leader.
Reuben: Today you begin preschool at home with mommy. She is a patient teacher with a great gift for working with children, she has taught your big brother and sister before you. I think you will stretch her more than they did. You are a bundle of energy in a way that I have not experienced before. You have a love of life and a playful spirit, and I know that in the middle of our family, this is a gift God has given you and you are a gift God has given us. Even though there are days when you drive us nuts with your craziness, I would not change you in any way. I know that this year you will grow and change and learn, my prayer and hope for you is that in midst of your growing and changing that God would preserve in you the unpredictability and playfulness that defines you, and that God would harness these qualities and build you into the tremendous leader we know you can become.
