Today is Chandler’s first day in a new school.

Do you remember your first days? I remember being nervously excited. I remember new clothes – a perfect white T-shirt that was about to turn blue where it was tucked into my new about-to-turn sweaty blue jeans. And I remember those jeans, crisp and unwashed, scraping in my inseam as I walked, and chafing my skin a little inside. I remember new notebooks, the smell of unsharpened pencils, the squeak of new, white tennis shoes, and wave set, dry and hardening in my hair.

We sent Chandler off with new clothes today, but Marti was smart to not buy him a whole wardrobe. Christopher and Anne taught us that lesson their first day of school in Laguna Beach, California, after growing up in Newbury, Massachusetts. Marti sent them off to middle school and junior high here, starched and pressed for New England, and everyone else was dressed for the beach. They still tell the story of how humiliated they were on that first day. That afternoon, it was straight back to the store to find appropriate clothes to what everyone else was wearing. Marti is anticipating another trip this afternoon for Chandler, although it may not be necessary. Chandler makes most of his own choices when it comes to clothes and doesn’t much care what other people think. Good for him.

Still, I feel a little nervous for him. This is a new school in a new environment with only one kid he knows previously. That’s why I’m thinking I might take a little of his courage to heart. If we don’t have some new area of action or trust in our lives, regardless of how old or young we are, we probably are not growing.

What have you got that’s new to do today? I’m a little nervous today, too. I’ve got new things to do, and at my age, those new things are even harder because of the years of wrong patterns I have to overcome.

What will you need courage for today? There are resources provided for you and me by the Spirit of God. But take some inspiration from Chandler, too; I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.