Labor Day.  The first holiday of the school year.  It always seems to me to take the longest to get here, doesn’t it?  There is hardly time to breathe the first month of school.  From going to school in the summer to get your room set up, to pre-planning meetings, to open house, then right into the first weeks of school, it is stress upon stress.  Opening a new school year is exhausting and that day where we rest from our labor seems to be placed at the perfect time…right before we collapse from overload.

There is a reason for the scripture “Be still and know that I am God.” When days are long and work is piling up it is important to press pause.  Labor Day is a built in pause button.  A whole weekend to rest, renew, and refresh.  Spend time as a family this weekend.  Play outside, go for a hike, or have a cook out.  Resist the urge to grade papers, or write lesson plans.  You will be a better teacher when you take the time to be still and know.