Beginning of the School Year

Ok, first of all, I'm so sorry to those of you who commented on my blog....I just realized I switched my settings and had to approve your comments!!!  They are there now!  :)

School starts this week.  My summer has been amazing, refreshing, relaxing, and wonderful.  I am sad to go back,  but just a little.  Because if summer was all year long, I won't enjoy it as much!   Plus I'm very excited to be starting a new year and meeting my new students!  While searching for ideas online this weekend, I came across these prayers from one of my favorite blogger, Angela Powell.   devotions.thecornerstoneforteachers.com  Here are the two prayers I will be praying over my desks and classroom over the next two days:

Lord, even though I don’t know who my students will be this year, You do, and I am so grateful to be a part of Your perfect plan. I pray that you keep my students and their families safe as the summer comes to a close and bring them to me with an open heart, ready to learn. Please help me to get to know each student and family for who they are, and to see them as You see them: they are Your creation, your beloved children, and I want to love them like You do even when they don’t seem very lovable. Help me to stand strong when I want to speak negatively about my students and remember how precious they are to You. Please show me Your divine purpose for placing each child in my class this year, and help me to walk with You, relying on You for strength as I work to accomplish Your perfect will. Thank you for the fantastic year ahead, Lord! Amen!

And this one is from Who's in Charge Here? which is both a prayer and a classroom dedication:

Powerful and almighty God, You are so amazing! You’ve had a plan for these children since before time began, and you’ve always known that our lives would cross paths this year. Please give me the gift of discernment to understand their needs and how I can meet them. Show me everything I need to know to teach these little ones and develop the gifts that you’ve given them. Let my enthusiasm be evident every day, because my joy doesn’t come from having a perfect classroom, it comes from knowing You. Jesus you are ever-faithful and unchanging, and I pray that you would fill me with your strength and perfect peace each morning and carry me throughout each day. Put a genuine smile on my face and help me to be as patient and loving with these children as You have been with me. Remind me that this job is a privilege and that I am fulfilling Your call on my life by showing up in this classroom each day. Surround me with supportive, positive influences and help me to speak only truth and light so that my colleagues and supervisors will consistently see You in me. I dedicate this classroom to You: let Your name triumph over any negativity and may everything that happens here bring glory to Your name. I thank you for giving me Your holy Word so that I have a place to turn when I need to be uplifted. Thank you for filling me with the passion and enthusiasm that can only come from having ‘God within’. May Your name be glorified in everything that happens here as Your mercies are made new each morning.

I hope you have a great school year!!