Can you believe it? It’s time to launch another school year. For many of you, this will be your 30th, 40th, or even your 50th time to start a new school year as an educator. That’s amazing! For others, you are in your first year or decade, and you’re still trying to figure out if this is what you want to do for a lifetime. I hope and pray that many of you will become lifers in this great work of shaping children's worldview. 

Working as an educator will never make you wealthy in a financial sense, but it will make you wealthy when it comes to laying up treasures in heaven. Remember this: organizations and causes come and go, but people last forever, so invest your life in the students God has placed in your care. Maybe you’re not in the best organizational situation, or perhaps the leaders above you aren't excellent. Don’t allow any of those things to cause you to lose your love and joy for training the children before you this year. 

Each child in your school or classroom has immense potential, and they will remember their interactions with you 50 years from now. Think big and think long-term. Take time to imagine who they might become in the future, and then pour your heart and soul into each one of them. As an educator, you have been given a tremendous opportunity. Embrace it, cherish it, and give it your all. You do your best, and God will do the rest!