The Cat Vs. The Dog

We always take pictures on the first day of school. Her are the last three years:

I’ll be adding a new picture for another new school year (2010), in the morning.

I tucked a special back-to-school survival bag into each of my kid’s backpack.

All I need is Kleenex to get me thru the day.

Is it just me, or is this growing up thing, hard?

P.S. I’d like to point out a few things you might notice in the above collage: 1. yes, those are fall decorations in the background of 2009. WHAT WAS I THINKING? It was August and over 100 degrees everyday. 2. In 2008, my 1 year old is wearing a leash. You do what you gotta do. 3. YES, I KNOW: my kids are adorable!

*UPDATED*

School Year: 2010

5th grade

3rd grade

Preschool

Do you cry at the start of a new year?

P.S. I only choked up once this morning (and that had more to do with the highly developed, french-manicured girl at the lockers!)

Today is our last day of summer.

You’ve been a real splash! We will miss you.

Have you had a good summer?

My hubby and I have been teaching Sunday School for a couple of years. We teach 5, 6, and 7 year olds.

The lesson is usually taught by my hubby and I tackle the crafts every week.

But I live for “prayer request time.” But don’t let my holiness deceive you, some weeks it’s the best laugh I get.

Because 5, 6 and 7 year old pray about everything. And I mean, everything.

I’ve been jotting down some of the especially hilarious heart-felt ones.

It starts out like this: “Do y’all have any prayer requests this week?”

Every hand shoots up in the air. We go around the table, one-by-one. We pray for scratches and scabs. We lift up sick grandparents and broken toys. And sometimes, we pray for:

• “The freckle on my butt”
• “I was late for church because my parents were fighting in the car.”
• “The birthday party I went to yesterday was fun. Except for the disgusting cake. Can we pray about that?”
• “My dad says bad words like _______”
• “My mom called my brother a dork. And that’s very bad.”
• “I don’t like my sister.”
• My pet hamster has ring worm.

We thought about moving on to another class since our kids aren’t in ours anymore.

But I can’t give up prayer request time.

Today, I’m talking about my first day of the fifth grade over a new Back-to-School launch sponsored by Dayspring.

I had my first pimple, first pair of eye glasses and a huge desire to fit in –all in the same day.

P.S. I closed comments because I’d love for you to comment over there and tell me your thoughts on sending your kids to school with purpose (smile).

Today’s giveaway is a little unusual…it’s actually a raffle for this necklace (plus more)!

You can read all about it here.

(Comments are closed in hopes that you’ll click the above link!)

We sat in lawn chairs that sat in lush grass. Kids around us, running with cupped hands, catching summer fireflies. Friends, Amber and Seth, drawn together by the uncommon, only to us, common.

Seth leaned in and asked this question as if the night hinged on it, “What was it about Africa that was so redeeming for you?”

I almost laughed it away when I heard the word Africa because I’ve written and talked about it so much. What else could I say? But I didn’t laugh. I stopped and I let the question surround me, sink in. Because in his question, I found my answer.

I’ve struggled with this trip-turned-obsession. I was only in Kenya for 9 days, NINE short days! What is wrong with me, why can’t I get out of Africa?

I was redeemed as a child. I have lived my life serving God. I’ve made mistakes along the way, failing miserably, but God has always been in my life, a push and pull relationship. But before Africa, Jesus wasn’t enough. I sought after the American Dream and treated my Savior like a side dish. Somewhere along the way in my Christian walk, I’d forgotten the most important thing: Christ.

On that humid night in Arkansas, with fireflies lighting the night, I answered his question: It was the time, the place, the emptiness of my life coinciding with the hope that I saw. Africa renewed my purpose in Him. It’s the legacy I want to pass on to my kids: to love others more than I love myself.

Sarah Markley bravely asks the question, “Do I have to go to Africa” to be wrecked by God?”

No.

I believe it comes when you least expect it, but are ready for it: next to a hospital bed, at a birth or death, alone with God or surrounded by friends. God uses the ordinary and often the extraordinary to grab our attention and refocus it on Him.

But for me, it was Africa.

And it feels like redemption.

What about you?