August 6

Beloved families of Good Shepherd,

Peace be with you!  The month of August can sometimes feel stressful for families as they walk through the many transitions of a new school year.  There are transitions to new school schedules, teachers, classmates, buses, carpools, sports teams, and family routines.  Usually feelings of excitement, nervousness, and apprehension accompany these periods of transition.  

I think it would have been amazing to have known about the writings of Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century French mystic, when my daughter was in school.  Brother Lawrence’s wisdom about the presence of God would have calmed our nerves as we walked through the big transitions of each new school year together.  I would have encouraged both of us to let go of our anxious thoughts because, as Brother Lawrence discovered, Love is always with us and loves us infinitely more than we could ever imagine.  Brother Lawrence says, “Let go once and for all of everything we recognize as not tending toward God…All we need to do is recognize Love’s intimate presence within us, speak with God in every moment, and ask for God’s help.”

As you enter the upcoming transitions of a new school year, I hope you will take time to pause and attend to Love’s sacred presence within your body.  You can also invite your children to stop and become aware of the presence of Love within their bodies.  You can then gently let go of anything that is not Love and begin to experience God’s joy and peace!

We invite our rising fifth graders to join a new children’s chapel offering called “Take 5” this Sunday, August 10!  Our Youth and Young Adults Minister, Zac Blankenship, will lead this chapel time and guide our fifth graders in applying the appointed Gospel reading to their daily lives.  This new offering will meet in the Youth Suite in the undercroft after the blessing and sending forth of children to children’s chapel.

Also, this Sunday, August 10, all students and teachers are invited to receive a Back-to-School Blessing before school starts next week.  This special blessing will be offered at the 8 am, 10 am, and 5 pm services that day.  

Following the 10 am service this Sunday,  we’ll celebrate the start of the new school year with a Back-to-School Picnic!  Chef Jeremy Ashby has created a delicious menu of picnic food items and we are so grateful to him and his team!  Families are welcome to bring a dessert item if the wish.  

We hope your family will make plans to join us this Sunday!

Many Blessings,

Patty