Back to School
Hairspray and perfume hang in our hallway like the Black Smoke from Lost.
The girls scurry around…”Where’s my bobby pin? Not the green one! The blue one!”
The first day of school.
It’s go time.
One year ago, I shared a few thoughts about the first day of school for the girls:
Today, they embark on a new season of classes and homework, of football games, of friends and opportunities and choices. They seek independence, yet the glue is still drying between us as a family.
For kids raised outside their family of origin, or in a family with significant trauma or dysfunction, it’s harder to grow the bonds of trust and to learn to rely on others. It’s harder for them to understand the balance of love and authority. It’s harder to grasp the trust that lies within teamwork.
Last May, I shared a few thoughts about the last day of school and my prayer for the summer:
As both girls grow older and earn the responsibility to make more of their own decisions, that they would invest their energy in avoiding drama and in building relationships both with people they can serve and influence as well as a few great girls that can influence them and help them continue to love God and grow into strong, secure women.
The time has come to revisit and cast a new vision for a new year.
Even though it’s been another full year, our glue is still wet around the edges. We’ve had a tough summer, and there are still more changes and missteps in our future…that’s just part of life.
So today, as we start another school year, my prayer is both of my girls will follow God’s guidance as they make choices, that they’ll find friends that will bring out the best in them, and that they will focus on letting God make something beautiful from the hard times in their pasts.
What does this coming year have in store for you? Leave a comment…
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About Christine
I am a writer, a project manager, and a corporate refugee with a heart for orphans around the world. My two daughters were adopted from Ukraine at ages 12 and 14. I post about writing, chasing dreams, and making a difference in the world, and sometimes I share fun snippets of fiction in-progress.
I’m echoing your prayer for your girls and praying that it will be true in the lives of your girls and my girls this year! Looking forward to seeing what God’s going to do this year!
Amen. We need to get the girls together…if only for a reason to get the parents together!
great post, christine! part of me looks forward to the first days of school when i have kids of my own.
as far as your question? there’s a part of me that wishes i knew what was in store. but then i think about it and, though i don’t really know (considering i don’t have a crystal ball or anything), i still do know. what’s in store this year is what i determine. by the grace of god, this next year will be an amazing next leg of my life’s journey – a kid? more writing? looking out beyond myself? becoming closer with my wife? why not all and more?
always enjoy your stuff. i’ve fallen a bit behind on the daily part of my blog. but i’m working to get back up to snuff. keep up your good work here!
“what’s in store this year is what i determine” ….love this! You have some great goals and a healthy balance between setting goals and being open to surprises. This is going to be an exciting year for you!
Don’t feel bad about falling behind. I’ll confess, I’ve missed a few too!
thanks for the kind words, christine! i’d be disappointed if there weren’t some surprises. hope this year brings you some surprises, too, as well as your own goals for your life.
i know it’s wednesday but seriously looking forward to fiction friday.
There will always be surprises, I think that’s the only guarantee in life! I’m looking forward to fiction friday, too…I still don’t know what’s next!
After this past year, I can only imagine what is in store for the coming one. Whew!! It’s been crazy, but so good! I definitely know there is a book and the chance to share a super encouraging person’s life with others, while helping to make the world a better place in the process. Super excited about this!
Tammy, I can’t wait to see how the book shapes up…SO excited for this project. Talk about making a difference in the world!