School year scares

Jesus, help me remember I don't have to do everything at once! Amen.

Some people brought a man to Jesus to be cured. The man was deaf and couldn't talk. Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears, then spat on them and touched the man's tongue, saying, "Open up!" Suddenly, the man could hear and talk! Everyone was amazed at Jesus. "He can do anything!" they said.

School is starting! As excited as you are to see your friends and start something new, school also means changes -- not all of them easy. You look at class schedules, lockers that won't unlock and heaps of homework, and worry: "Will I be able to do all of this?"

If it makes you feel any better, even Jesus must have felt that way sometimes. In this week's Gospel (Mark 7:31-37), a crowd brings Him a man who has some big disabilities, and they expect Jesus to make the guy see and hear, just like that.

Don't you think Jesus might have wondered, "Will I be able to do this?"

The beginning of school is overwhelming to a lot of kids, but the good news is that you don't have to do everything at once. Over the next few weeks, you'll learn where all your classes are and how to unlock that annoying locker -- and months from now, you'll barely remember a time when you struggled with that.

Like you, Jesus took His time in getting things done. He didn't just heal the man in a second; He touched the man's ears and tongue, and said out loud what He planned to do (another good idea for kids!). Only then did the man's miracle happen.

Every school year is a kind of miracle, too. You start out wondering whether you can possibly get through it; but, by the end, it seems like you've always been in your current grade.

Like Jesus, you'll get through this challenge and be ready try something new!