Yes, I know. I hear many of you chuckling to yourself, as you can well imagine life at my house right now. All our memories of having babies (human or canine) had obviously been long buried, and it is all coming back in a rush. They don’t listen, they don’t sleep when you want them to, they don’t go to the bathroom when (or where!) you want them to, they don’t obey, they need constant feeding and frequent bathing, and they have to be constantly supervised! Our house is a wreck, and we are exhausted.
And yet, as long as we have children, we have a far more important task before us. And, in the first week of school, our teachers also see their work cut out for them. They realize that these new students are not the same ones they remember from last May. The students they have now haven’t yet learned what it is to be a third grader, or sixth grader. For the teachers, it seems they must begin with the process of guiding, teaching and molding all over again. Parents too may be saying, “Has my child forgotten how to do homework? I thought we were past this already!”
All this reminds us of an important truth--we are all a work in progress. Each parent and teacher is involved in a process of bringing a child from where they were to where they will be, one step at a time, until God will see his work complete in each and every one. Likewise, God is not finished with us, the adults. We have a long way to go too, and the older we get, the more we realize how long that road really is. The very, very good news is that we are not alone. We have a great God who promises to finish His work in us. He will lovingly take us to each next stage, through every struggle, providing help and helpmates along the way; and we will someday be not only complete, but perfect. Knowledge of that gives us hope, and perhaps also more patience—with puppies, with children, and with ourselves.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ…And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Philippians 1:6, 9-10
Jennifer Cable
Elementary Principal