She had the church bless the children's backpacks.
We had been asked to have the children bring their backpacks to church with them on Sunday. The children were called up for the Children's Message and were asked to bring their backpacks with them. The Children's Minister then read the letter below to the children (adapted from a blog post on Momastery). When she was done, the Sunday School Teachers made a circle around the children while the church prayed for them.
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Some of you have already started school and some will be starting next week. You're growing up so fast and I am very proud of you! When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.
Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.
And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.
I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.
So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.
If you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. I want you to trust that heart-ache, because it's called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Wake up! One of my children is hurting! Do something! Whenever you feel compassion, that means God is speaking to you. It means He trusts you and needs you to take action.
Sometimes compassion will make you speak up right away and sometimes you'll wait to speak up. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher or your parents or me. We're all on your team – we are on your whole class’s team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell someone.
When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.
I do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and I don’t care if you win a single one of them. I don’t care if you get straight As. I don't care if you're picked first or last for kickball at recess. I don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. I don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or the coolest gadgets.
You don't go to school to become the best at anything. God and I already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. It's a done deal.
When you go to school, practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
Trust me, it is. It is more important.
Don’t try to be the best this year. Be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.
Take care of your classmates, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are very lucky girls and boys with all kinds of new gifts to unwrap this year.
I love you and God loves you.
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It was awesome. As a member of the congregation, it's a priviledge to pray over the children as they start a new school year. And as a parent, it makes me unspeakably thankful to know our church loves my children enough to pray for their protection.
What a terrific way to start the school year!
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