“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6
This week our campus and city have been filled with first-day flutters: smiles and carpool lines, squeals and laughter on the swings, new lunch boxes carefully packed, backpacks zipped and ready, and parents lining children up on front stoops for that annual first-day photo. There’s a mixture of nerves and excitement, a sense of beginning again.
Last Sunday we blessed students during worship and handed out backpack tags that remind them: “I am surrounded by love and lifted in prayer.” That blessing carries with it a truth we all need to hear, not just children – that none of us goes into a new season or new challenge alone.
The Bible reminds us that children are not only our future, but that they reflect something of God’s truth in the present. Their openness and honesty, their curiosity and independence, their laughter and tears all point us toward the wonder of life itself, and remind us that we are not in control. Sometimes they even carry wisdom adults forget – wisdom about delight, trust, and how to live with open hearts.
As Whitney Houston once sang, “Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be.” Perhaps part of “training up a child” is not only about teaching them, but also allowing them to teach us – about wonder, trust, and hope.
This back-to-school week, may we give thanks for the gift of children, and also remember the child within us: the one who once marveled at sharpened pencils and clean notebook paper, the one who dreamed dreams, the one who looked to the future with hope.
How might you honor the wisdom of children – both the children in our community and the child within yourself – as you seek to walk faithfully with God and neighbor? Who might you surround with love and lift in prayer this week?