The day after Labour Day (that would be today) always feels like an end and a beginning: summer vacation has officially ended, the new school year begins.
New brings excitement and anticipation. But it can also hold dread, worry, and anxiety, especially for students and their parents.
Two passages that have meant a lot to me when I face the future, worrisome or not, are from Isaiah 41 and Matthew 6.
“Fear not for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10.
“‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on…
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them …
Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they neither toil nor spin ….
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field… will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith’” – Jesus in Matthew 6:25-30.
And the tip-in poem:
teach me
the sweet leisureliness
of being a lily
the implicit trust
of my child-hand
in Yours
the unlikely joy
that sings sparrow-songs
even when I’m on the ground
VN – 2007
The lettering and doodles were done with pen, coloured with pencil crayons. I printed the tip-in poem on tracing paper and stuck in place with Washi tape.
Wishing all students and their parents a “God-with-you” first day of school!!
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Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Violet Nesdoly 