School Days and Prayers
I remember back to when my children started school each day. Most of those years my wife went to work earlier and I was the one who got them up and made sure they were fed and prepared for school.
Before Rosie started school I remember thinking about how people were saying how bad it was that prayer was taken out of school. Yes, "in my day" there was prayer in school. We recited The Lord's Prayer each morning in homeroom until one year when it wasn't permitted any more.
Regardless of the importance of having teachers, who may not even believe in Jesus, lead classes in praying a prayer, it just isn't done any more. Yes, there is a time of silence and that is a good thing to prepare for the school day. But I decided that whether there was a time of silence, when I hoped my children would be quiet and even say their own silent prayer, or not and whether there should be a prayer recited out loud, that I would pray with them each morning and read the Bible with them.
Rosie started school four years before Emilie so in those years it was just the two of us. Then Emilie joined us when she started school. In those early years with each of them I would read the Bible to them and each of us would pray. They had a prayer that they would pray most days and I guess mine might have sounded similar as well. The main thing was that we would pray for their day and for their teachers.
Some days things would get so busy that we only prayed and we might be standing at the door rushing out, but it usually happened. And yes, and don't tell my wife this, some mornings I chose to take the time to pray with them instead of them brushing their teeth. So sue me.
As they got older they began to take over the reading sometimes and I would let them choose which book of the Bible we would read through. We would alternate between an Old Testament one and then a New Testament one, usually a Gospel. The Old Testament one was often Esther because Rosie liked the fact it was her middle name -- Rosalyn Esther Thornton. I didn't mind because Esther is a wonderful woman standing up for her faith. Emilie is Emily Rebekah Thornton, another biblical middle name.
Anyway, those mornings year after year built into them scripture and the importance of praying. I must admit that when they got older and decided to just read the Bible silently and we each would sit there reading our Bibles, I missed reading it out with them. But I knew that this was what I wanted, for them to be able to read it on their own through life. (And yes, I am choking up as I write all of this.)
Were there mornings we didn't do this? Yep, that would happen. But consistently we would pray and read the Bible and share that special time in the morning. Were things hectic around our house in the mornings? Increasingly so and as the girls got older the minutes we shared together doing this were less.
Also, each year I would try, and usually succeed especially in the younger grades, to sometime during the school year mention to their teachers that we prayed for them in the mornings. I wanted them to know that they and their work were thought to be of importance and that we cared enough to pray for them specifically.
I have to confess that I messed up so many times in parenting but I got this one right. Wherever they are now, Rosie in Tanzania and Emilie getting ready to head to London in a few weeks for her fall semester, I know the groundwork has been laid. It's up to them now to carry on as they choose, perhaps doing this at a different time of the day or not at all, but I hope that someday should they have children they will take the time to pray and read the Bible with their children.
In any case, I can't choose for them. But I still pray for them and at this time of the year when families are sending their children off to school I am reminded of wonderful memories...and I thank God for them.
Before Rosie started school I remember thinking about how people were saying how bad it was that prayer was taken out of school. Yes, "in my day" there was prayer in school. We recited The Lord's Prayer each morning in homeroom until one year when it wasn't permitted any more.
Regardless of the importance of having teachers, who may not even believe in Jesus, lead classes in praying a prayer, it just isn't done any more. Yes, there is a time of silence and that is a good thing to prepare for the school day. But I decided that whether there was a time of silence, when I hoped my children would be quiet and even say their own silent prayer, or not and whether there should be a prayer recited out loud, that I would pray with them each morning and read the Bible with them.
Rosie started school four years before Emilie so in those years it was just the two of us. Then Emilie joined us when she started school. In those early years with each of them I would read the Bible to them and each of us would pray. They had a prayer that they would pray most days and I guess mine might have sounded similar as well. The main thing was that we would pray for their day and for their teachers.
Some days things would get so busy that we only prayed and we might be standing at the door rushing out, but it usually happened. And yes, and don't tell my wife this, some mornings I chose to take the time to pray with them instead of them brushing their teeth. So sue me.
As they got older they began to take over the reading sometimes and I would let them choose which book of the Bible we would read through. We would alternate between an Old Testament one and then a New Testament one, usually a Gospel. The Old Testament one was often Esther because Rosie liked the fact it was her middle name -- Rosalyn Esther Thornton. I didn't mind because Esther is a wonderful woman standing up for her faith. Emilie is Emily Rebekah Thornton, another biblical middle name.
Anyway, those mornings year after year built into them scripture and the importance of praying. I must admit that when they got older and decided to just read the Bible silently and we each would sit there reading our Bibles, I missed reading it out with them. But I knew that this was what I wanted, for them to be able to read it on their own through life. (And yes, I am choking up as I write all of this.)
Were there mornings we didn't do this? Yep, that would happen. But consistently we would pray and read the Bible and share that special time in the morning. Were things hectic around our house in the mornings? Increasingly so and as the girls got older the minutes we shared together doing this were less.
Also, each year I would try, and usually succeed especially in the younger grades, to sometime during the school year mention to their teachers that we prayed for them in the mornings. I wanted them to know that they and their work were thought to be of importance and that we cared enough to pray for them specifically.
I have to confess that I messed up so many times in parenting but I got this one right. Wherever they are now, Rosie in Tanzania and Emilie getting ready to head to London in a few weeks for her fall semester, I know the groundwork has been laid. It's up to them now to carry on as they choose, perhaps doing this at a different time of the day or not at all, but I hope that someday should they have children they will take the time to pray and read the Bible with their children.
In any case, I can't choose for them. But I still pray for them and at this time of the year when families are sending their children off to school I am reminded of wonderful memories...and I thank God for them.
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