Back-To-School With A New Look—

By Jayme Hull—

It’s time for the Back-To-School panic! Time to grab the discounts in the local stores! Wouldn’t it be nice to be stress-free and have a little extra cash in our bank accounts by the end of September? Whether you have a child or grandchildren in K-12 or a student in college, you and every other shopper will be searching for coupons, big sales, extra cash and cooperation with the kiddos while shopping in the stores for school supplies.

No matter what age group the students are in your family, most likely all of them have happily tucked away their books on a shelf since school closed a few months ago. If you are like most families in today’s world, you’ve spent time playing games together, going on a vacation and working indoors and outdoors on little jobs around your house. Hopefully, you’ve been able to set some time aside and catch up on all your meaningful conversations, family dinners together, visiting neighbors and family and completing things on your wish list from the last year.

Lately, time is flying by so quickly we can’t even catch our breath or sit down doing nothing for a short restful moment. Wasn’t yesterday just our last day of school? Where did the summer go?

Spending time with our family and friends is something we need to protect and intentionally hold on to. Today’s younger generation needs to hear from the older adults in a real down-to-earth way. Sharing your life with them is so important that God instructs us in Scripture what we are to do to help the younger generation know Him and His truth. Whether you are a Mom, Grandmother, Aunt or Cousin you can make a difference in a student’s life if you will make yourself available and willing to spend time with them one-on-one.

Here are our instructions from God:

• Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
• Titus 2:3-5 “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live…then they can urge the younger women to ….be self-controlled and pure…”
• Psalm 78:4 “…we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.”
• Psalm 78:6 “so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.”

Here is a wonderful definition of mentoring by Paula Scantlebury :

“Someone who shares God-given wisdom with someone else on a regular basis with the aim of encouraging that person in bite-sized bits to live a life that is pleasing to God.”

That’s it in a nutshell! Can you be an encourager to the next generation? Of course you can. Ask the Lord to help you to throw off everything that hinders you from stepping out and reaching the next generation for Christ. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV) I speak from experience; you will be blessed and so grateful that you did.

Here’s my Back-To-School With A New Look Challenge for you:

Ask the Lord to give you clear direction to the person in your life that you are to mentor on a regular basis. Believe God for the answer and then step out in faith and trust God to help you!!

Jayme Hull: Jayme is a graduate of New York University with a B.A. in Speech Communication Education and Musical Theater. She married her high school sweetheart John and together they live in Nashville TN. Jayme and John have three incredible godly adult children, two beautiful daughter-in-laws that love the Lord and one granddaughter . She went to NYC to meet the Broadway Entertainment world but instead she met the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. From that moment on her life was changed forever. Her new ministry, Woman Face toFace, is a Christ centered, Bible based, non-denomination ministry to equip women of all ages and stages of life to learn how to help each other as a mentor or being mentored. Check out the website at www.JaymeLeeHull.com