How clearly do you remember your first year of school?

Kindergarten was a great experience for me. My world expanded!
I discovered new playmates and a new experiences at Meadow Lane Elementary School 😉

My sister and I walked to school through a cow field on an elevated wooden walkway built for that very purpose.
This was 1958, it just sounds like 1858.
There was a playground with swings and a merry-go-round. At lunch we had milk in unforgettably cute little cartons followed by story time and a nap. One perfect day followed another as I learned numbers, shapes, colors, and followed the adventures of Dick, Jane, their generic baby brother and their dog Spot.

Some kids are forever etched in memory.
I remember laughing to myself as Mike Mitchell clung to Mrs. Mitchell’s skirts whaling and flailing as our teacher tried to pull him away.
Negotiations had broken down completely and the teacher had given Mrs. Mitchell the nod to ‘take a powder’ and just let her get on with making a man out of little Mike.
I have to hand it to Mrs. Mitchell. She did leave and for the next week she pushed Mike into the room and never crossed the threshold herself. By the following week Mike came into our class under his own steam.
I’d like to tell you that this difficult challenge was the first step in him becoming a Navy Seal and carrying out heroic Special Ops, but I don’t know what career he pursued.

I read once in a child psychology text that about 90% of our personalities are set by age 5.
Do you think you’ve changed, at your core, from the child you were in kindergarten? Can you see things about yourself that were already a part of the 5 year old you?

My 5 year old self shared traits that are still part of my personality.

I was outgoing and highly social.

I liked everyone, even Mike Mitchell.

I didn’t play favorites or exclude others.

I always stuck up for the underdog.

I really enjoyed learning.

I loved school.

Life can and should be a long adventure in learning and growth.
There are things about my personality that showed up as I grew up.
Like a temper.
After I became a Christian God began to ‘teach’ me how to subdue it. I’m far from perfect, and I’m still a hot-reactor, but I’ve learned to be angry and sin not. I don’t have to speak or act unkindly, I can find the grace to overcome my own default response.

How about you?
Were you anxious as a child? Have a temper? Selfish? Insecure and always seeking attention? Overbearing or arrogant? Stubborn or lazy?
Did some of those traits tag along into your adult life?
God is the only perfect parent and He follows us throughout our lives offering to help us grow in character and wisdom.
Don’t keep struggling on your own, ask Him to help you grow up in all things in Christ.

And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
Philippians 1:6 TLB