Every week day I’m usually dashing out of the front door at 8:40am and walking - sometimes running – my two boys to school. Although the outward commute is a bit rushed, the journey home is less so and often gives the chance to walk and talk with other parents. Sometimes we’re only in each other’s company for a few minutes but I’ve found these little touch points so important. We share something about our children … our day … our stories.

Here are a few tips I need to remind myself on the school journey.

1. Stay calm. The kids might be late, you might be late but its not the end of the world. God is sovereign over your day. 
2. Pray. Pray beforehand and ask the Lord to give you time with people. Pray as you walk – who is the Holy Spirit connecting me with today? Pray as you talk. Pray for the Lord to bless them and touch their lives.
3. Be friendly but not too intense.  Its hard to turn down a smile and a friendly hello.
4. Minister. If God has prepared good works for you to do, then how does he want you to minister to them? Listen well, ask good questions, offer to help, offer hope. A few times I have stopped and asked if I could pray for them there and then. 
5. Be patient but not too patient. You may be a link in the chain in their story. Your part may be small. But you may also be the only Christian they know. If you get the chance, tell them about Jesus and invite them to find out more.

I’m trying to follow the B.L.E.S.S principles in all this … but I have a long way to go

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” – Isaiah 52.7 (CSB)

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