A New Year

It's our first day of kindergarten.

It's a brand new year.

It happens every year. The gingerbread man runs away.

We stopped at the STEAM lab (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to look for him.

We're working together.

We're building a bridge for the gingerbread man.

The gingerbread man left us clues.

We'll help him get across the lake so the fox won't eat him.

We used the QR reader on the iPad to decipher the codes.

We searched in the gym.

We looked in the library.

We asked everyone if they'd seen him.

We finally caught up with him. He left us a tasty treat.

All that running around made us hungry.

Our day was filled with gingerbread activities.

We're counting on having a great school year.

“Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?”

Brand-new, unbroken, pointy crayons, still wrapped in their paper. Sharp, unchewed pencils, topped off with square, pink erasers. Shiny laminated name tags. New notebooks filled with clean, blank pages.

Fresh little faces, eager to love and be loved.

One of the most rewarding perks of teaching is the opportunity to start fresh every August. I’ve cleaned the classroom from top to bottom and everything has been refreshed or replaced. I’ve thrown away old and outdated materials, touched up paint, put out new supplies. And I have a new crop of kids.

If I made mistakes last year, I get a do-over. And if I had successes, I can’t rest on past accomplishments; now I have a new group of kindergartners who need to learn to learn about words, about numbers, and about God’s wonder-filled world.

It’s a fresh start for the kids, too. They’re not the same children they were a year ago; they’ve grown and matured. Their personalities are not set; they’re still in the process of becoming  who they are meant to be.

Not everyone has the unique opportunity of starting fresh in August, but as Christians we’re not bound by our past mistakes or failures. Every sunrise provides a new opportunity to begin again and to live victoriously. God’s compassions are new every morning. 

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal toward the prize or which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

 Philippians 3:13-14

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentation 3:22-23