Cairns - First Day of High School

This morning I became the mother of a high schooler. How did this happen? Seems like yesterday she was sucking two "binkies" and wearing tight pigtail curls that slipped out of place during nursery. :) Then yesterday she followed me around Target as we school shopped, next to me like a lamprey on a shark! In case you don't know, lampreys are parasitic fish that swarm around some sharks, picking at them and hovering over them. While school shopping with two kids in the supplies aisle .... I admit that I know why sharks sometimes DO EAT lampreys. :)

Last night we picked out what she would wear, packed her bag, and spent some time in prayer and in the Word ... finding answers for the "first day of high school." Yes, they're there. Cairns.

This morning I made her a southwestern omelet with kiwi on the side (this won't happen every day ... we will degenerate to Coco Pebbles). She ate while I finished straightening her hair, and we chatted. She was getting texts from her girlfriend who was also straightening her hair. Funny ... when I went to high school, I was curling my hair (early 80's)! She wanted me to put on her little bit of makeup, and for just a moment I smiled when I remembered brushing her pigtails and dressing her up in my shoes and beads. We went downstairs to finish preparations, and she borrowed a jacket of mine (Yes, we are in the borrowing stage!), and I remembered back to the days when she wouldn't leave home without her blankie. SHE won't think of my jacket that way today, but it makes ME feel good to think of it that way! I took her picture next to the chalkboard (read the sign in the picture :) ), she reassured the dog that she would return (he hates it when school starts), and then she made me promise I wouldn't take pictures of her getting on the bus. And I didn't ... take pictures ... I DID promise. :)

Time for another "cairn" for Jo. We sat in the car and prayed the verses below from Joshua to cover her day, and then I took her off to the bus stop ... out of my hands, but not out of His. It is a good place for her to be. The best place.

I got text messages along her journey to school. THAT was such a treat! We got a "shared phone" (challenging ... ) for our kids last year when we had a bad school incident that made us make the investment; that's for another post. :) But I never had the privilege of texting my mom for updates and to get encouragement back while en route ... she had to wait for the wave to crash when I got home! Students today live in a world so different than ours.

Joshua 1:2b-9 ...get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land(that would be high school) I am about to give to them ... to the Israelites (that is... to my Jo). I will give you every place where you set your foot ... As I was with Moses (as I was with your mom), so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you(not at your locker, on the bus, in gym class, in a test, or with friends). Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land (God will use you to influence people for Him) I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you (all the word of God you've been taught); do not turn from it to the right or to the left (follow God, not those around you), that you may be successful wherever you go (Wow! guaranteed success in high school). Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night (think about it all day when you're out there), so that you may be careful to do everything written in it (don't get cocky and think you can succeed apart from God). Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

And that's a cairn that brings us ALL comfort, whether it's our first day of high school or if high school was long ago in the age of curled hair, no cell phones, and pre-Target.

Cairns,