07 Aug Our Anchor in Year Ahead

Many of my conversations with close friends these days have centered around one primary topic: What is the coming school year going to look like and – of the different options our family could pursue – which approach is best for my child? I have listened and lamented with friends who feel torn and undecided about what to do about their children’s education. I’ve also felt deeply for the teachers and administrators who are trying to navigate the safest and best path for their schools to pursue education in these uncertain times. As a homeschooling family, we’ve faced our own decision-making process about whether to participate in our co-op, in the end opting to engage in an online program that affords us maximum flexibility.

As I look forward into the year ahead, what I see is like an ocean of uncertainty – the waters we travel may be calm and smooth sailing or they may be choppy and unstable. It will likely be some combination of both.

And yet as we push out into deep, uncharted waters, we can rest when we place our trust in the One who never changes. 

I have no idea circumstantially what this year will end up looking like for any one of us but I know that if we choose to cling to Christ and ask Him for guidance and wisdom at each step along the way, we will experience the anchoring and sustaining power of our God. When next summer comes, we will be able to look back at both the storms and the sunsets we experienced and breathe in gratitude for our Great Navigator.

And I read in my seminary class today what seems to be a prophetic word to me in this moment that “chaos can be a catalyst for growth” and I am reminded that sometimes it takes being thrown into circumstantial chaos to open our eyes to where we are placing our hope and faith.

Our faith and hope cannot be in our circumstances. This may seem more obvious during a worldwide pandemic, but it is true even when we have the illusion of control and the world seems to be singing our tune. As moms who may find security in our color coded, synchronized schedules, we would do well to make a mental mark over all of our best laid plans with a firm “maybe.”

If, as Sarah McKenzie said so well recently, all our planning is guessing, we would do well to keep an open hand with our hopes for the year ahead and be honest with our kids, who are looking to us for direction.

Our homeschool room has been cleaned out and our curriculum purchased. And yet as I look at the new books, the fresh paper and sharpened pencils I remember with humility, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps” (Proverbs 16:9). And I open my hands and let all these plans fly to the feet of my Heavenly Father.

However we may begin our course this fall, let’s join together and surrender our path and our children’s paths to the Lord:

“Father, we seek your will as we plan for the year ahead. We recognize that even our best laid plans are subject to change and disruption and so we surrender them to you before we even start. Lord, please help us as we navigate the path before us. We declare that our security is not in our circumstances but in you. We pray that you would be the anchor that holds us through any storm we will face. We ask for joy in the days ahead as we steer through the twists and turns that come our way. Fill us with peace and rest in our hearts, minds and souls. May our children be rooted and grounded in your love, growing and thriving in mind, body, and soul. Have your way in our hearts and our homes. In Jesus’s name, Amen.“