Each year on the first day of school there was a photo taken on the front porch. Books in hand, kids wearing brand new clothes ready to take on a new year. I don’t remember much past that and probably wouldn’t even have remembered this one year if it wasn’t for photos. There I stood in my wide blue and white vertical striped pants. Every year we got a couple of pairs of new pants, some new shirts, and the best ones were picked out for the first day of school. Yeah, looking back at that picture, those were the best? Oooh!
Each year the styles would change, but one thing wouldn’t; the picture. Every year we would stand on that front porch and mom would snap a picture. First with black and white film, then the color film came along. I’m not sure if I liked the pictures each year or not, but that was the tradition. And now, I am kinda glad for that tradition, well at least for the pictures that were taken. I’m still not sure about those pants though. The fall, along with the New Year, seems to be the time of year that traditions are started or restarted as both seem to indicate a new beginning as we go through life.
What traditions does your family have? New clothes? Maybe sending the kids off to school the first day with that traditional first day of school breakfast? Maybe it includes a picture of the kids excited to be going back to school or maybe a little annoyed that they have to pose for a picture? At least it isn’t in front of everyone as mine was. One of the drawbacks of living right across from the school was everyone who went by saw us on the porch. But hey, it was tradition.
In the past couple of years, I have started a new tradition around going back to school. Yes, my daughter is all grown up and married but she still goes back to school each fall, now as a teacher. The new tradition involves breakfast and my daughter. We go out for breakfast a few days before the start of her school year and we pray. Breakfast is good, the company is better, and the prayer is best. Traditions seem to connect us to the past and keep us grounded as we go forward. Make sure that God is a part of that tradition. Take the time to pray the morning before heading off to the new school year, or maybe the night before. Keep that tradition up if you already have it, or start it this year. Then follow it up with a family prayer time each week, as your kids progress through the school year. The foundation you lay today will hold your children’s spiritual lives up for life.
Keeping the Tradition,
Randy