Start or End?

Well, it’s that time of year for just about everyone now. At least, everyone who has kids, or is a teacher. It’s school time again. As I’ve been thinking and planning for the school year to start I began to look at it two different ways. Let me explain.

First off, I saw the negative. I will miss the freedom that the summer gives for family time. There really isn’t much of a problem having the kids stay up late because they can sleep in the next day during the summer. We can throw the ball around all night after I get home from work and not worry about homework, or anything else for that matter. I also saw the money that it costs to get all the supplies, and all the time that it was going to take to make sure we were organized and ready to go. Then add onto that the school calendar of events, sports, etc. Wow, that is a lot of negatives!

Then I saw the positives. We get the family back onto a routine. I’m more of an organized person, so having a routine suits me better than not having one. I also enjoy some of the school events and watching my kids participate in them. It also means that my wife gets some sanity back, which is a bonus – added onto the fact that she’s teaching preschool this year and bringing in some extra cash, which can’t hurt! Oh, and there is my favorite – the house will not be a wreck every day when I get home! Yeah baby!

So, what kind of lesson can someone get out of school starting up? How about the fact that there are two sides to a coin, as they say. When any event happens, the majority of the time it will be an ending point of one thing, and the starting point of another. Sure, we’ll miss the last “season” of our life, but the new one brings a lot of positives as well. It’s all in the way that we approach these starting points that really shapes how we deal with them.

This week, since school starting effects everyone, even if you don’t have kids of your own in school, try to take a positive approach to the start of the school year. Yes, there will be adjustments that need to be made. Yes, it’ll be a roller coaster for awhile as we get adjusted. Yet, through it all this, like all things, happens for a reason. Embrace the change and make the best of it. Look to the positives and know that through the good and the bad, God will be with you as we enter another start of the school year.