Brothers and sisters,
We are at a unique time of year. Spring has fully sprung as flowers are blooming and sunny days are becoming more common. The temperatures right now mean that spending time outside grows increasingly tempting. We’ve had a few hot days that remind us that summer is coming, but for the most part the world is opening up and inviting us to take time to relax and enjoy ourselves.
At the same time, students at colleges and high schools across America are having to stay indoors and pore over notes and books and articles as they prepare for final exams and write final papers. I was reminded of that this week as I prepare for the fantasy book club I’m in.
You’ll remember a couple months ago when I wrote about Water Moon that I’ve been attending a book club in Chapel Hill once a month. Well, most of the people in the book club are undergraduate students and back in March they were already dreading the end of the semester. Several of them have multiple exams within a day or two of each other. A few have final papers to write in the midst of those exams. Our book choice this month was purpose-fully short so they wouldn’t be stressed.
In addition to the universities, though, high schoolers all across the country are preparing for AP exams. I would imagine you all know this already, but AP stands for “advanced placement” and are college level courses taught at high schools. If the students can pass these ex-ams, they get college credit when they go off to school. Needless to say, there’s a lot of pressure placed on these kids.
So, as good neighbors, I want us all to take time over the next few weeks to pray for these students. Pray for them as they study, that their studying would be effective. Pray that they would get good nights of sleep the day before their exams. Pray for nutritious breakfasts that al-low them to focus on their tests and not on their stomachs. Pray for calm nerves, that they would be able to show all that they have learned over the last semester or the last year. For those writing final papers, pray that they would be able to communicate their thoughts effectively. For those running final experiments, pray that they are able to run them efficiently and analyze the results correctly. Pray that all these students would have a sense of accomplishment regardless of the final results.
We can be good neighbors to these students even if they don’t know that we’re praying for them. God has made each and every one of them and given them talents. Let us pray that they can learn to use those talents for the good of God’s kingdom!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben