Together: September 2026 - Magazine - Page 43
The last word…
Back to School - facing that first day No matter how old we are, we can
probably remember our first day at school 3 being left at the door, meeting children we did not know, separated from the adults we did know and
had trusted since the day we were born. But on the other hand, there
was the excitement: a big step along the road of life, new friends to
make, another adult to become important in our lives. Yes, quite a lot to
handle when you9re rising five!
And that9s what hundreds of thousands of children are going to experience this month. Parents may have prepared them for it, and they may in
a slightly apprehensive way be looking forward to it, but it must feel to
the five-year-old like a massive step into the unknown.
Not much less is the anxiety of mum, who leaves her precious child,
proudly resplendent in their new school uniform, in the Reception
classroom. Will he or she suddenly panic, and cry for that familiar
parental cuddle? Will they feel abandoned in an alien setting? Will they
like the teacher?
Of course we9ll be praying for them, and we know that like millions of
others before them they will very probably eventually decide that their
schooldays were among the best of their lives. But end of class can9t
come soon enough for mum on that first day! How wonderful when they
come running out, laughing and excited, clutching a piece of paper with
some obscure crayon marks on it 3 written evidence of their first day9s
education.
We must remember too the pupils starting their first day at high school;
going from being a big fish in a small pond to suddenly being a very
small fish in a much bigger pond! They too need our prayers, as do the
students beginning their university studies, often away from home for the
first time.
Keep these young people in your prayers
43
