Back to School

So. We're back in the swing of things. Summer is over, we can feel the weather changing, and it's time to start a new grade.

A new school year means a fresh start. Whatever craziness that went on last year gets left behind in last year. So let me make one thing clear: You get to decide what kind of a school year this will be.

Why? Because every day you're making choices. Every day you decide what kind of a person you show the world around you. Maybe last year you were the kid who always had the answers. Or, perhaps, you were the one who was always last minute on their homework. This is a new year, though.

Maybe you're starting a whole new chapter of your life. Maybe it isn't just school anymore. Perhaps you've begun college and now you're starting to feel the adulting side to life. But whether you're starting first grade or your senior year of college, maybe it's time to make a change.

You see, dear reader, we are not just mindless students trying to get done with what we have to do. We are the Keepers of Light and Legend. Do you know what that means?

We hold the stories and the light Jesus left behind. That book that sits on your shelf you sometimes bring to youth group? It's a weapon. Not just against enemies like bullies. It's a weapon against the anxiety inside you. Against misbeliefs you hold about yourself, the world, and life.

Because we are the Keepers of Light and Legend, we hold the truth. Being a Keeper means you're a born-again child of God: a prince or princess! Some days this year you will feel anything but royal and powerful. There will be days you feel like little more than trash, and that's OK. Sometimes we're going to have bad days, or even weeks.

What's important about this new year, and about being a Keeper of Light and Legend is that you're obligated to do some things that not everybody else is.

You are obligated as a Christian to pick up and use that weapon of yours, the Bible, against every enemy that's thrown in your way... along with sending the fastest thing since before text-messages! Prayer. It may feel like it bounces off the ceiling sometimes. Just know that even your little, unintelligible prayers are always heard even if it doesn't feel like it.

Sadly, this world is a fallen place and things besides school are going to trouble you this year. It might be world events. It might be relationship problems. But no matter what you face this year, remember this: God's got you. He loves you just as you are with whatever problems you have. Jesus loves you just as much on the Sunday you didn't go to Church and laid in bed watching TV as He does the day you do.

Not only that, but no power in the whole world can stop Him.

Not ruler, nor authorities, not even that one teacher who hates your very beliefs. Even if worse comes to worst this year, He's got a plan that ultimately will end with us, His Chosen, alive in Heaven with Him forever.

So, what does that mean for us right now?

It means we must do our best in whatever situation we face. It means swinging our swords in victory against the enemies we'll face within and without and committing to prayer in every anxiety. I promise. Make time for Him, and He'll show up in ways only He could imagine this year.

Even if this is the hardest year we ever face, we know in the end who wins. So take charge! Be on time this year! Do your best! Make new friends! Commit to reading the Bible and praying. Because it isn't so much big fancy words as a quiet little whisper that changes the world.

Hope your back to school is amazing! Be on the lookout for Middle Earth month, coming this September, and as always, Ad Lucem.

-L.E. Levens