It was the day before school started. Everywhere we went, to anyone who brought up school starting the next day he quickly returned, “I don’t like school.”
No, he’s never liked school.
But school wasn’t until tomorrow. Today we had declared an official Party Day. There’d be fun food, fun activities and no chores all day.
Today I wanted our whole day to be filled with fun; only fun. I wanted to keep the reality of school starting pushed away… No worries about who was in his class, who wasn’t in his class, what the new teacher would expect, what the new teacher wouldn’t expect, a day that didn’t need a long conversation at bedtime to attempt to calm a racing heart.
But no matter how hard I chased the fun, the back to school lion was looming around the corner…and I didn’t know if it wanted to eat my boy or not. Would it be a good year or a bad year? Would he make friends quickly or struggle through the year? If only his best friend hadn’t moved away…
And yet, the weather was beautiful. The temperature was perfect. The sun was full. There was a slight, almost constant breeze. The donuts at Donut Boy were fresh and delicious. I mercifully got to witness I wasn’t the only mom trying to push the inevitable away with delicious treats. (Don’t judge me…or them! Haha)
We went to lunch at a restaurant of his picking. The food was okay, not exactly healthy fare here either, so I began to question my sanity again…was I trying to reassure him of the fullness and goodness of life or reassure myself with the Fun Day?
It happened after lunch: We were leaving the restaurant and I saw a boy, probably two years older than mine, running into the breeze, arms spread wide open in a strong, goose formation looking V shape. His chest was pushed out; his face was lifted to the sun. Two words leapt to mind: LEAN IN. Lean in to the goodness; lean into the beauty, lean into the pleasure; it is a perfect day, let the parts that are perfect be perfect.
The invitation to lean into the good of the day juxta positioned with my and my son’s very real anxiety about the start of the school year was striking. Neither of us could control the circumstances feeding our anxiety about starting school again but both of us could still make the conscious choice to lean into the good.
LEAN IN. This is the constant invitation of worship: to lean into the goodness of God no matter where we find ourselves or what may or may not be waiting around tomorrow’s corner. The artists who serve you on the weekend are very aware that when we all gather together, every one of us are all coming from different places: some of us have had good weeks, some of us have had devastating weeks; some got good news, some got bad; some are happy with the direction their life is going, others are fighting tooth and nail to swim upstream. We invite you, no matter where you are coming from: LEAN IN. Let the truth and beauty of who God is sink into your soul thru the music, the word, the testimony, the offering.
As we lean in, He makes us new. That is His promise: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor 3:18