And so we have arrived...the end of another school year

As I sit here and reflect on yet another school year's end, I can only see my children's childhood slipping away.  I was warned on many occasions that they would grow up quickly, like in the blink of an eye.  Those warnings of time fleeting by was many times ignored even though I could see it happening right before my eyes.  I guess you could have called it somewhat of a self denial of recognizing that soon my children would enter the 'real world' and be faced with the day to day tangles that life presents us all.

However daunting it is that they should have to learn the hard lessons of life, I know that in fact the sooner they learn those lessons, the better off they will be.  And so, as I sit to ponder the end of this school year, I reflect on the life lessons that one can be taught at such a young age.  As a mother, it is my hope and prayer that not only have I met those lessons giving them clear direction but that God will supernaturally use each lesson to draw them closer to His kingdom.

However hard it is for a teenager to always see God working through the lessons of life, in His sovereignty I know that God works all things for good.  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose", Romans 8:28.  I am grateful when my teenagers can see this verse come to fruition and can only hope that as they continue their journey into adulthood, they will hold fast to this very pivotable verse.

Just recently the opportunity arose to teach the lesson that unfavorable things happen even when one has persevered and done the right thing.  Hebrews 12:1 tells us that "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us".  Now there's a lesson we are all so eager to learn!  (sarcasm intended)

As hard as it is to see your child wronged, it is even harder turning the situation over to God and letting Him do His work.  It's much easier to emphasize the wrong doer's actions and dwell on "the sin that so easily entangles".  The hard part is learning that this race that we call life is purposed by God who sees the whole picture, and we are to run it with an unfailing perseverance in a way that those who are watching our every move can see the reason behind each step that we take.  That reason of course is that we are being set apart by a God who doesn't punish us by tough circumstances but allows them to occur so that we may be fashioned into His likeness.

So, as another school year comes to a close, I sit and reflect on the life lessons being taught, some through some not so pleasant circumstances.  I could say that it's only my teenagers being taught these lessons, but I myself am also learning some as well.  I guess you could say that you're never too young and never to old to learn lessons through that which life deals us.  On many occasions I would rather turn in the cards dealt and ask for a new hand, but I know that while the new hand of cards dealt may seam better than the previous one, it will still hold a multitude of challenges of its own.

May God continue to work through "everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" and may we see His glorious face shine as we each set out to run this race called life.