| The joy of going back to school |
 I remember early September school days so vividly. The delight of putting shiny pens into a pristine new bag. The sigh of resignation as the freedom of summer slipped away. The fear in the pit of my stomach as I walked into a vast school building for the first time. The joy of seeing familiar faces, stepping back into friendships that were as comfortable as old shoes.
As a Christian schools worker, I meet a lot of young pupils who face a new year at school with this same jumble of excitement and fear. School corridors in September are charged with emotions as old friends reunite and Year 7s gape at towering sixth formers. I often talk to the youngsters in Year 6 to help them prepare for the big move up to secondary school, and the same questions come up over and over again: What if I get lost? Is it going to be hard to make friends? What if someone is bullying me?When I meet pupiIs who are worried about school, I tell them how Christians find the ultimate comfort when they’re going into scary situations. We look at Psalm 139, which tells us there’s no place we can go that’s beyond God’s loving reach: If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I lie down in the grave, you are there. If I rise with the sun in the east and settle in the west beyond the sea, even there you would guide me. With your right hand you would hold me. : The psalm goes on to say that God knows us inside and out, because he’s the one who ‘knit’ each of us together. None of our struggles or joys is a surprise to the one who planned every day of our lives before time existed. : I’m beyond my school days now, but in many ways I haven’t changed a bit! Fear still gnaws away at me when I’m faced with something new and challenging. I still worry that I’m not going to be good enough to do the tasks stacked up before me in a busy week. I met a Year 7 today who reminded me of what to do whenever I face a situation that’s too big for me to handle. “Once I had problems with this bully at school,” she said, looking thoughtful as she remembered. “I was really scared. But when I prayed to God he helped me.” : By Kirkley Greenwell: |
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