Lord, we give thanks for the blessing of change.

So often we resist those moments that throw us out of our rhythms and disrupt our self-focused schedules, and yet in this time of new things, we offer thanks.

We give You the glory for this rapidly-passing season of summer and the growth it has brought to our lives.

We give You praise for the children entrusted into our care and ask Your blessings on them as they return to school.

Education seeks to equip us not only to think but to feel and to be placed in situations that cause us to see and relate to the different experiences of others. Help our kids, and us, to learn what You seek to teach.

There are so many steps along the journey, and we implore safety, protection, and strength for our students and those that serve them.

For the kindergartener entering their classroom for the first time, we offer prayers for courage and confidence as they embrace new challenges and make new friends.

For the elementary school age child, we seek a blessing of calm and comfort- may our anxieties about our children not be placed too soon upon such small shoulders.

Help us, Lord, to realize that our children are hearing what we say and seeing what we share, and even a passing comment can cause harm.

Help us be better grown-ups.

Bless the middle schoolers who are passing through a period of great change in their young lives. Give us as adults the ability to model concern and compassion and to truly notice what is being shared (and left unshared) by our children each day.

Grant us grace with the teenagers in our lives. Help us to offer encouragement more than we pass judgment. Allow us the ability to perceive many of their mistakes and missteps as issues of maturity, and yet grant us the wisdom needed to patiently offer correction that encourages growth rather than resentment and further rebellion.

We pray too for those young people moving away- for college, vocational training, or military service. We offer a blessing on those now entering the workforce rather than a classroom for the first time in many years. Guide and guard them in these early experiences of their working life.

Bless the parents, grandparents, and extended family members who desire both a safe environment and a quality education for their students.

Help us all to see one another as instruments of grace as we work to build up the young people we love.

We lift up our teachers- the living avenues of learning in our community.

We pray for their strength and their patience both in reaching their students and in bearing up under the increasing weight of scrutiny that accompanies their daily work. We pray for the many administrators, coaches, counselors, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, maintenance crews, school resource officers, and volunteers who will impact our students and leave impressions in the year to come.

May their hearts seek the good of each student, and may we as a community support those who embrace these special roles.

Lord, as people, we often fear the unknown.

We cannot see the future for ourselves- much less the future for a child just beginning life’s journey.

We ask that You reveal to us ways to bless the children You have placed to our care.

Give us the humility to serve, the courage to advocate, and the grace to extend forgiveness as we journey through the coming school year together.

We ask these blessings in the name of the One who loves us all as His own dear children, amen.