A long, wonderful summer is winding down, and it's "Back To School" time. Children everywhere are looking ahead to a new year. There is so much promise in a pack of unsharpened pencils, pages and pages of unused paper, and or course the look and feel and even the smell of new box of crayons. There is the uncertainty of who will be in what class. Will the new teacher be kind or mean? And, of course, which backpack will be chosen to carry all the new supplies.

As your Director of Christian Education, I have had the opportunity to be a part of the excitement of the backpack choosing. Our deacons have obtained a number of backpacks, our congregation has filled them with wonderful new school supplies, and I have had the joy of seeing the sheer delight of the children who choose one. And we have as a church been blessed in the process.

Children of all ages need our love and support as they head back to school. Isabelle starts to kindergarten. Hayley will begin middle school. Saralyn is now a college student. And Mike begins graduate school.

My nephew Sean is now in middle school. A teacher told his class to fill a small bag with things that represent their summer. Sean's first thought was to put a Bible in his bag since summer was a time of spiritual growth for him. But he is aware that others might make fun of him. He saw another student with a Bible at school and saw that child ridiculed. So along with other preparations for we school year, we need to pray for our students. Many prayer groups have formed around the country for the express purpose of praying for students and their teachers. We can't go to school with them, but God can and does! Happy new school year!