Tag: school

1 New Year; 3 Words – What will you be known for

1 new year; 3 words.

Last week, I read an article about someone who visited the grave site of Michelangelo. Being someone who loves not only history but places and people of significant historical values, my eyes couldn’t help but soak in her experience at such a hallowed place. 

Of all of the details of the site, she described 3 specific statues that stand there. These are not random relics used to accessorize a headstone. They are intentional in their creation and their placement. The three stand there to represent and proclaim the 3 words left from his extraordinary life.

The lady of painting.
The lady of sculpture.
The lady of architecture.

The lingering legacy of Michelangelo summed up in three words: Painting. Sculpture. Architecture. 

Begs the question: What 3 words will I (we) we known for?

This week marks, for most, the start of a new era and time. Even if you don’t have kids going into a school, the beginning of an academic year sets the pace for routines and schedules.

This week is a place to not only launch into a new grade but to begin to write a legacy of what this year will be known for. And this can happen by asking the question: When June hits, what 3 words would my neighbors, classmates, co-workers, and educators say of me this year? What will the 3-word legacy I leave behind?

It’s not just questions for children going to school but questions for us adults to ponder. And the answer lies in having a prophetic vision.

Proverbs 29:18 ESV, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.“

I love the way the ESV (English Standard Version) says that. By “prophetic,” it means it that which encouraging, edifying, and compelling. It’s looking past what the natural eyes can see and chooses to see that which God desires us to see in order to move us into His vision for our lives.   A “prophetic vision” is a God-given/inspired picture that launches us forward. And the words He speaks and the pictures He gives may seem like they don’t exist in the present but set your feet to a path to follow.

It makes me think of the story of Gideon. A man who thought very little of himself and his clan, was living in fear of others. It was in this mental and emotional state where an angel approached him and said the words, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” These 7 words didn’t necessarily describe who he was in the moment but what God wanted to draw out of him.

What 3 prophetic words can you speak over your kids this school year? What 3 words can you speak over your marriage? What 3 words can you speak over your life?

It may be a sentence of 3 words (“Love one another” “Embrace and forgive” “Engage in love”). It could be 3 separate words (“Grow, deepen, listen” “Watch, encourage, serve”). But quieting yourself before the Lord and listening to His voice this week can not only change the trajectory of the year but the tone of which each day is lived.

3 words.

What 3 words do you hear the Lord speaking to you? What is He speaking over your kids? What 3 words are you speaking over your kids?

Discover them. Write them down. Say them over each other. Live them out.

1 new year; 3 words.

 

Thanks for letting me ramble…

 

Back to School: 10 Things to Pray Over Your Students

Today is a monumental day for our home. We have two beginning their freshman year. My daughter begins her college career, my son begins high school.

My tradition of praying over them every morning has continued since the day I dropped them off at preschool. The obvious differences today is, first, I’m not holding their hand to the front door of their class and stopping there to pray. Second, they’re now leaving for school before I’m out of the shower. So more often than not, my prayers over them may have greater distance by proximity but are not less effective because of the authority of Christ. I believe a prayer in the name of Jesus, in accordance with His Word, brings change.

At Kfirst, we are in a series on Elijah called “Whirlwind.” And James reminds us about Elijah and about prayer.

“…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. “ James 5:16b-18

James seems to want us to know how powerful prayer can be while encouraging us that we don’t have to have the “credentials” someone else has (in our minds) to pray powerful and effective prayers. Elijah performed great acts and had powerful prayers. Yet it was “human as we are.” I don’t know about you, that builds my faith and encourages me to get my butt in the Word and step out in prayer.

So where your kids have already started school or today is “day 1,” let me give you a daily prayer list over your kids.

  1. Help our children to draw their identity from Jesus.
  2. Give them fearlessness with new opportunities and humility with familiar experiences.
  3. Help them to make good connections/reconnections with peers and faculty.
  4. Let there be no limit to their love for the people around them. Help them to love people like Jesus does.
  5. Develop deeper disciplines and capacity for learning.
  6. Let them see and step into opportunities to exercise generosity without reciprocation.
  7. Guide them to look for lonely people.
  8. Let their lives shine with the hope they have in Christ.
  9. Help their attitudes to rise above the flow of negativity and criticism.
  10. When they face disappointment or hurt, guard their hearts and bring them back to their identity in Jesus.

Amen.

Love you all. Praying over your kids today.

 

Thanks for letting me ramble…