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Topic: First Day of School (06/28/04)
TITLE: Kindergarten: God's Laboratory By Clay Drysdale 07/04/04 |
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The long walk up the sidewalk to the blue building where my educational journey began is still vivid. I was crying terribly, yet I was trying to hide it because I didn't want anyone to see upset I was. At that moment, that place was the last place on earth I wanted to be. Back home with my mom, as I had been for the first five years of my life, is the only place I wanted to be right then.
When the door opened and I looked inside, all I saw it seems were a thousand little faces staring at me, wondering who this kid was who was late and had been crying. Embarrassment overcame me, to say the least. I was very self-conscious of how others saw me, even at the tender age of five.
I don't really remember anything else about that first day of Kindergarten. However I still can recall several other memories from that year, mostly good, or at least not as traumatic as my first awful day. That old building has a particular smell, though not really good or bad. Years later when I was a Senior in high school right next door I remember walking up those steps and through that doorway again. That same familiar smell instantly took me back to my first year of school.
Looking back, what did I learn from Kindergarten? Besides the basics of counting, coloring, and printing the alphabet, there are other, more important lessons I took from that year. For instance, now I know that the first moment of a new experience or journey is not indicative of how the journey will end. If I had had my choice, I would have gone back home that morning and never set eyes on that building again. It's a good thing I didn't have that choice! Sometimes when we have no choice but to stick out a situation, slowly but surely everything gets better.
I also realize now that some of the best experiences in life often come out of events that start out as terrible, awful ordeals. For example, after that first day of school, I pressed on and eventually passed Kindergarten, I did well in first grade, and I survived second grade. Jumping ahead a few years, I even finished high school and college, managing to learn a few things over the years.
Who would have thought on that first August morning, crying and clinging to my big sister's hand, that I would have turned out so well? I'm sure God did. He ALWAYS knows what the future holds, even when we don't (and that is almost all the time).
Sometimes when I get stressed about life, for fun (or maybe out of desperation) I think back to my school days. I have often imagined what it would be like to "redo" my high school years. If I could start all over as a Freshman again, I wouldn't need to worry about all those things I worried about at that time: getting initiated by the Seniors, finding my way around the "big" high school, and last but not least, algebra. The reason I wouldn't have to worry about those things this time around is that I already made it through once and I know how everything turned out
Alas, that's not how life works. We don't get a "redo" on anything in life. We have one time though and that's it. Sure we can go back and try to fix mistakes, but it's not the same as going back and doing it all over from scratch.
If we knew just what to expect from each day, we'd never have to rely on God for His provision. I'm sure that's why He designed life the way He did.
So what did I really learn in Kindergarten? I learned how to trust God, of course.