Happy Friday!

It was a long day at school but my room is ready to receive first graders. Our first grade classes are full and overflowing. We are in for an interesting year.

Acts 5: 41 “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

I have been teaching for a long time - 30 plus years. And I learned a long time ago that “Learning is stumbliness and stumbliness is goodness.” First graders work really hard and have been known to stumble and fall as they learn. They get sort of frustrated when their grades are not always 100. But I tell them that we are in first grade to learn and that they were not supposed to walk into my class knowing everything. It is okay to stumble and fall as long as they get back up and keep trying.

Sometimes we are like first graders who get frustrated who stumble and fall in our faith. If we beat ourselves up over our stumbling and stay on the ground then we are not giving God enough credit to forgive and forget. God is greater than our sins, short comings and failures. If we remember how much God loves us, sinful though we are, then we need to forgive ourselves, get back up and press on towards the higher calling of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is through our forgiveness by God and forgiving ourselves that we are made worthy to serve our suffering Lord.

When we forgive ourselves and stop wallowing in our sin we do what children do when they edit their writing when they throw out all of the unimportant information. We must cast aside our past imperfections and feelings of failure. Through forgiveness we are raised up in love by a loving God, not in anger to be knocked back down. Our God of tender mercies raises us up in love and the willingness to begin again.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us remember to continually pray for each other. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

PS Geni passed biology! Thank you for all of your prayers. Peace, gc