Pastor's Viewpoint: A lesson for children that parents should learn, too

As I write this, I am enjoying one of the final traditions of our summer — our annual family trip to the cabin with my siblings and their families. It is a time filled with conversations, laughter, boat rides, fishing, tubing, meals together and simply enjoying being with people we love. But even as we enjoy these final days of summer, I can feel a change coming. Soon, the summer rhythm will give way to a new one. School will begin. Alarm clocks will be set earlier. Backpacks will be packed. Practices, activities, meetings and programs will fill our calendars again. Before long, we will find ourselves settling into a new routine. For some, that change is exciting. For others, it brings a little anxiety. Maybe that is especially true for our children. A new school year can mean a new classroom, new teachers, new classmates or even a new school. But if we are honest, adults aren't always that different. Changes in our routines can leave us wondering what the next season will bring. As I think about the changing rhythms of life, I am reminded of something that does not change: The God who was with us in the rhythms of summer is the same God who will be with us in the routines of fall. In fact, this is one of the great promises woven throughout Scripture. From the opening chapters of Genesis all the way through Revelation, we encounter a God who desires to be with God's people. God walks with Adam and Eve in the garden. God promises to be with Abraham. God tells Moses, 'I will be with you.' The prophets remind God's people that they are not alone. Jesus comes into the world as Emmanuel — 'God with us.' Before ascending, Jesus promises his disciples, 'I am with you always, to the end of the age.' And near the end of Revelation, we hear the promise that God's dwelling place will be among God's people. 'God is with us,' is a promise that stretches from beginning to end. And maybe it is exactly the promise we need as one season gives way to another. Because God's promise is not that our routines will never change. They will. God's promise isn't that every transition will be easy. It won't be. God's promise is that whatever new season we enter, we do not enter it alone. That is something worth remembering for ourselves, but it is also something worth reminding one another — especially our children. Because so often, what we believe our children need to hear is exactly what we as adults need to be reminded of ourselves. When a child is nervous about that first day of school: God is with you. When a parent wonders how another busy year is going to work: God is with you. When a teacher looks at a classroom full of new faces: God is with you. And maybe as we say those words to our children, our students and one another, we need to hear them, too: God is with you. When life takes an unexpected turn and the routine you had planned suddenly changes: God is with you. As summer winds down and a new school and program year begins, there will be plenty of new schedules, new routines and new rhythms to learn. But there is one thing we don't have to wonder about. The God who was with us yesterday is with us today and will be with us tomorrow. That is a promise we can hold onto because, even more importantly, it is the promise that God is holding onto us.