LIFEandTIMES with ANGUS GIBB A

NEW TERM:

This week means it is back to business as usual. The summer holidays are over. School is back. No more holidays until April. As Djokovic’s emotional win in the Australia Open marked a milestone for him, it has also marked a milestone for many families — the summer is o cially over (except for February of course!). Maybe this week means someone is starting kindergarten. Maybe it marks the beginning of a final year of school. Maybe this year is your last in your job as you get ready for retirement. Whatever it may be for you, the start of a school term is the beginning of something new. As you look at the year ahead, as with all previous years, there are moments that make the year special. Each of these moments are to be treasured. I think about the precious moments we shared as a family when each of our children began the school year. There is a sense of excitement and expectation, and a sense of adventure at the start of the term. They are special days. What are the moments that you look forward to this coming term? Maybe there are new beginnings, maybe there are endings, maybe there is a fresh start. In all of this, however, there is so much that is unknown. The first day of school could go terribly (and I speak from experience). That new job might not be all that you hoped and dreamed it would be. Your upcoming retirement has just meant that you now feel marginalised at work. As I have reflected on what this new term will bring for our own family, I have found myself feeling both excited and uncertain. It is so easy for us to want to know and order all that we can, but there is so much that is out of our control. This is where I am so thankful for the truths of God’s word. In Psalm 121, there is a beautiful promise where the writer says: ‘The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.’ I take a great deal of comfort from this because I know that whatever lies ahead of me, I know that I am not alone. That no matter how the first week of school has gone, whether it went smoothly or whether there were a few tears at the gate from either the kids or me, I know that the Lord watches over us. And he has promised to watch over all those who have trusted him to be their Lord and saviour. So as our summer holidays draw to a close and the beach gear is packed away for another 12 months and our love a air with tennis is shelved until next January and the kids head o to school for another term, perhaps there is a moment for you to think about all that lies ahead of you and how you are planning on navigating this. You may find that this is a moment, among the myriad of moments, that can give you a chance to pause and wonder who is watching over you and giving you opportunities to see and know the one who is there.