As I mentioned last week PRAYER is a very big part of what we do at St. Joseph's. We all start our day with PRAYER and finish our day with a PRAYER.
We decided to start each week coming together as a school in prayer. So on Monday we gathered in the hall to begin our week thanking God for everything we have been given and to appreciate how fortunate we are to be here. We shared the weeks Gospel, said the the Dominican Prayer and finished with a song.
In the holidays I reread a book called 'Painting Rainbows with Broken Crayons' by Bernadette McCarver Snyder. It is a small book with prayers for teachers, parents and caregivers. I am going to share another one with you.
I'm OK, you're OK - but is that OK?
Today, Lord, we are constantly told to build up a child's self esteem and that is certainly important. But what if we keep saying, "You're OK," and the child knows that's not true? OR what if we say "You're OK, and don't mean it? Children have that uncanny knack of seeing through our words. They can almost always tell when we're saying something we don't really believe.
Help us, Lord, to think before we speak. Help us to find out what's happening with a child who might NOT be OK and try to fix what's wrong instead of just glossing over it. You can cover up a little sore with a bandage but underneath, it's still a sore - and it might even get worse if you don't apply the right medicine. You can never ONLY cover up a problem.
So help us, Lord, to take time to get to KNOW what's happening with each child before we say, "You're OK". It won't help them OR us to pretend things are all right when they're really all wrong.
We were all made in YOUR image, Lord. Help us to remember that. Help us to live lives that will truly reflect YOUR image. Only then can we build up our own self-images - and show children how to build theirs. Only then can we say "I'm OK, you're OK."
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