Our church, First Presbyterian Church of North Little Rock, had a Blessing of the Backpacks ceremony for the children Sunday. It gave the kids a chance to take part in the service. It gave the rest of us an opportunity to pray for students, parents, teachers and all others to be involved in the coming nine months of school.
The pastor, Anne Russ, noted how many things begin anew for the students — new teachers, new classmates and maybe even new subjects of study.Some of us go to school for 13 years, others stay at it for 17 or 20 years.
Even though we may go on to parts of our lives where the “new year” doesn’t start in mid-August to early September, the habit and mindset is hard to break, especially if one has children reasonably early in adult life. If that’s the case, the whole process starts again.
Think of all those new people thrown together for the first time. You may meet friends that you have for the rest of your life. You may discover an interest that turns into a lifelong hobby or even your vocation.
We may not realize it, but this time of year is fraught with the possibility of adventure and life-changing discoveries.
And you just thought it was an excuse to get new notebooks, pencils and crayons, right?
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We have been blessed recently at Stephens Media’s Central Arkansas Newspapers.
Lonoke Democrat reporter Priscilla Campbell, and her husband, Nathan, had a beautiful baby girl, Charity Grace, in August at Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. Everyone is doing great.
This afternoon we had our first visit in the Little Rock newsroom from Emmy Buffalo, the newly adopted child of Lonoke County sports editor Mark Buffalo and his wife, Linda. They returned recently from China where they adopted Mary Elisabeth in mid-September, and said she is adjusting to life in Arkansas quickly.
It is a wonderful time for both families and we are thrilled to have a small part in their lives.
Keep growing, girls!
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