Fighting For Faith, Family & Freedom

Saturday, August 20, 2022

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Carol Bauer

As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. -- Gary

Over a several week period from August to early September the nation's schoolchildren return to the classroom. For some, the new school year has already begun. Others are wringing the last days of fun out of Summer 2022.

Back to school shopping for classroom supplies and new clothes and shoes is well underway. Everywhere you go you see harried parents with shopping lists in one hand and kids in tow in the other. It's simply a rite of passage from the relaxing, carefree days of summer to early morning school buses and homework. Reality is setting in!

Thankfully, this will be the most "normal" school year start since Fall 2019. Though some parts of the country are still chafing under COVID restrictions, most of the United States will be going back to a much more traditional school setting than in the past two years. 

I can only imagine the joy of kids to actually see the full faces of their friends and teachers, to revel in the excitement of chattering groups of classmates and the chance to eat lunch together.  Who knew that going back to school could be so exciting!

But the youngsters headed back into class this Fall are not exactly the same ones who were shut out of their schools in late Winter 2020. These kids have had to face isolation, social adjustments, family illness and sometimes death, Zoom classrooms, uneven teaching standards, vaccination and mask mandates and the fits and starts of school systems as they navigated uncharted territory.

These are just a few of the many downsides of the past two and a half years. I pray that America's youth will come out stronger, but the jury is still out on that.

However, there have been some upsides to this educational roller coaster.  Parents had to become more involved in their children's education as they helped kids log in to Zoom class, worked with them to prepare for presentations and then could listen in to the actual content of the teaching. For many, this was an eye-opening and downright shocking experience.

Lesson content on human sexuality, critical race theory and all its iterations and history lessons replete with anti-American themes stunned many parents.  This in turn led to more parental involvement, the formation of parent watchdog groups and a big spotlight on curriculum content. 

I suspect this also led to hundreds of thousands of discussions between parents and their kids over dinner or while giving homework guidance. With the countless negative effects of COVID, this new role for parents may be one of its few positive outcomes.

Earlier this month, the James Dobson Family Institute published a short article by Gary entitled: "Parents--Before Your Kids Start Doing Their Homework Again, You Need to Do Yours."  You can find it here.  (Gary is, in addition to his leadership of American Values and Campaign for Working Families, also Dr. James Dobson’s new Senior Vice President of Public Policy.)

It is clear and succinct, and lays out for every parent what they can do to make a difference in the life of their children, their children's school and the nation. Whether we have young children in our homes or grandchildren in our sphere of influence, there is much we can do. Let's get on with it.

Heavenly Father, we ask you to draw close the nation's schoolchildren as they return to a more structured educational setting.  For those who are uncertain, calm their hearts.  For those who are fearful, give them boldness.  For those willing and able to live out their faith, pour into them the desire to stand for You. For those in need of a friend, prompt a child who knows You to walk alongside them in love.  

We ask You, Dear Lord, that the societal disruptions of the last 30 months would not permanently and negatively impact the social and educational development of the country's students.  For those families who lost a child to suicide or are dealing with a youngster whose mental health continues to suffer from COVID, give them comfort and Your peace that passeth all understanding.

We lift up to You the nation's teachers and ask that they would look forward to a return to normalcy and that their students would be encouraged by their enthusiasm.  

Dear Lord, we pray for the uncounted number of teachers who seek to live out their faith in the classroom as they show the love of the Savior to those in their care.  Where the role of parents is being undermined, give teachers boldness as they acknowledge that parents are their children's first and most important teachers.

Finally, Jesus, prompt family discussions about school that are full of curiosity, humor, truth and joy.  May parents and grandparents willingly accept their newfound roles and may students be emboldened by the new parent-student partnership that has developed during this COVID season.

Heavenly Father, we pray for our country in these uncertain days ahead.  Divisions are deeper, voices are louder and inherent rights are being challenged.  The stakes seem greater than ever, and the guardrails seem to be falling by the wayside.

Lead us, Lord!