"Jesus called the children to Himself and said,
let the children come to me and do not prevent them;
for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
(Luke 18:16)
Dear Friends ~
It's Back To School Time!
How can we ever forget those exciting and anxious first days of school each year either as a student, a parent, or a teacher… jitters and butterflies take over as the first school bell rings out new beginnings. The young student delights in new clothes and school supplies as well as seeing old friends again… and hopefully, excited about learning new things! The parent lets go of their child’s hand, waves goodbye, and utters a silent prayer, "Please Dear God, help my 
child have the best school year possible.” The teacher looks out over the sea of polished faces and wonders, “What kind of challenges will these children present us with Dear God? Please stay by my side and help me meet all their needs.” An idyllic start that can have many many ups and downs during a school year and therefore a most important reminder is offered for you to include Almighty God in every moment of your life, especially at such times of new beginnings.
As parents we can inundate God with our pleas to take care of our children in this or that situation, but, more importantly as parents we must teach them to reach out to God anytime they feel a need. Parents aren’t always around to seek advice from... but God is... so please educate your children as early as possible to always turn to God in a quick silent prayer when they need help, feel scared or don’t understand. The sooner they learn to build a relationship with Him the better their spiritual education will develop, and they will get a chance to grow in knowledge of His ways and His real ability to intercede where needed. Pray as a family; teach your children how to talk with God as simply as their own vocabulary can state what’s ever on their mind or in their heart. Let them know you too ask for His help and that family desires should be prayed for as a family; guide them through the waiting process it takes to get answers and when results are achieved help them recognize the hand of God in Divine Intervention manifested, which should never be associated with just a coincidence.
It is good manners to thank someone after a gift is received, and it’s no different when the gift giver is Almighty God, in fact, when the gift does comes from God, it is usually something no one else can give and merits an even greater expression of gratitude. When you have asked for His help to ace a difficult test and the answers 
come to mind with such unique calmness earning a top grade, get out the megaphone and yell out to heaven itself, “Thank You God!” When your family is on a tight budget and prays for a needed new car, and then in time a vehicle is made available to you from a surprisingly unique source, at a more than special price, recognize that immediately as the hand of God once again coming to the rescue… acknowledge your Heavenly Father’s love with each family member voicing gratitude for His providing. Learn how His Paternal love will meet the physical and spiritual needs of your family… teach your children to recognize Him as an integral member of your family… and most importantly... love Him back Who loved you first!
“The slenderest knowledge that may be obtained of the highest things, is more desirable than the most certain knowledge obtained of lesser things.”
-St. Thomas Aquinas
Certainly we should study and learn all things earthly... BUT, never at the expense of learning about all things heavenly... that is the greater knowledge which will take you best through life and safely to the hereafter.
TO LOVE THE SCRIPTURES,
by Timothy Dudley-Smith
Teach us to love the Scriptures, Lord,
To read and mark and learn;
And daily in your written word
The living word discern.
Your purposes in us fulfill
As we your promise claim,
Who seek to know and do your will
And learn to love your Name.
When in some dark and cloudy day
Beset by fears we stand,
Your word be light upon our way,
A sword within our hand.
As on your word our spirits feed
Through all its pages shine;
Make known yourself to us who read,
The Bread of life divine.
So shall the treasures of your word
Become as sacred ground;
Teach us to love the Scriptures, Lord,
Where Christ is surely found.
BE CURIOUS !
This website opens with some exquisite poetic words taken from The Bible on the beauty and value of Wisdom… because “she is an infinite treasure to me” and most of my life has been spent in the distribution of her wealth. As a librarian, it was always my delight to help a seeker of knowledge find answers, and more so, to captivate formative young minds with a passion for reading, learning and always pursuing why! I spoke to classes, gave story hours, and excitedly shared in the joy of a youngster getting their first library card. Every child has something special they like, and that is the best way to show them just how many books there are in the library on that subject… vivid colorful picture books will entice the preschooler to turn page after page, looking for book after book because it is the innate nature of childhood to learn. Parents must diligently feed that inquisitiveness and by no means never/ever squelch any thirst for knowledge. Feed it with books, trips to museums, exhibits, zoos, wherever you can take them to help introduce, mesmerize and satiate interests… constantly embed curiosity!
I found that reading to my children was always our most special time together… what joy to curl up together with a book and share a moment of laughter or thinly disguised lesson of life, which often stimulated a teaching moment from parent to child. The youngster’s mind has so much available mental space to assimilate whatever you can offer it and they soak it all up just like a sponge… and they will often replay events you may very well have forgotten as trivial, for nothing has gotten trivial for them just yet! I learned this very vividly the first time I was trying to cut story time short with my young son. We were reading one of his favorite books about Lyle the crocodile from the imagination of Bernard Waber. As I attempted to skip a section, he cried out: “No, Mommy! You forgot the part: “By and by her ears directed her to the bathroom door…” That precious little child of mine knew that book verbatim… word for word he placed those beautiful sounds in his mind for total recall at will! My aesthetically focused daughter was mesmerized by the artistry of children’s book author, Leo Lionni, with her favorite being about a mouse named Frederick. While all the members of his family were busy gathering corn, nuts, wheat and straw into storage for winter, Frederick didn’t help with the effort and they called him out for that. I certainly do work retorted Frederick, “I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days… I gather colors, for winter is gray… I gather words…” And then in the darkness and cold of winter months when supplies were practically nil, and tempers flared, Frederick came to the rescue and shared his supplies of feeling the warm rays of sunlight, and seeing the vibrancy of colors and hearing those words that revitalized the spirits of all. Cold, dark times come to us all, often when we least expect it, but if we have been diligently storing up the beauty and light of warmer times, we can get through the cold because we know this too shall pass. Years later when my daughter was in college and a dark time permeated her tranquility, I sent her a copy of Frederick and it was all she needed to persevere. What you put into your
child at two or three, may very well be revisited at twenty-three!
While I stress the importance of instilling a curiosity for knowledge to aid in whatever our vocations or avocations may require, there is nothing more beneficial or desirable, to paraphrase Thomas Aquinas, then gathering in the wisdom of God. Read to your child at bedtime a passage from a Children’s Bible that will captivate them with the greatest stories ever told… start their spiritual education young and give them that foundation necessary to get through the sunny and dark days of life. Help them build a relationship with Almighty God by questioning and searching out His truths together, as the stages of their growth can handle… it will take time, but remember you are building a house on rock, not the sand of meaningless values as the parable goes, so that when the storms come as they will, you will have passed on the knowledge of survival and salvation… that is what grounded
in God guarantees, and certainly that’s what you want for your child!
No other book in the whole wide world will give you more worthwhile information than that contained in The Bible… it is the greatest wisdom ever published… it is from the Author of Life, Almighty God.
