For devotions the other morning I hauled out my old “Intermissions…” book by James C. Schaap. I use it a lot. It’s cover is worn and the spine has been taped back together, but still it’s good stuff. It helps to focus us on God.

While I was waiting for the last of the students to settle in and focus on me, I was checking out the bookmarks I’d stuffed in the book. It caught the students attention, so I reviewed some of my bookmarks with them… the attendance slip from the ’90’s showed Laurie was absent that day. There was a prayer request list… an encouraging note from Pastor Meg … a ‘go fish’ card from a former principal, and on and on…

The bookmarks became the devotions! I reminded them that God was at work in all these ‘bookmarked’ things. I told them that events in our lives help us page back and see where God has been working.

This week is last week of my 40th year of teaching. God has been at work.  I guess it’s a bookmark of sorts for me. It will be a normal last-week-of-the-year week, I’m sure. There’s no party planned as far as I know. That’s fine. It’s going to be a busy week. I think a chocolate chip cookie would be a good way to mark the occasion. Maybe I’ll pick one up on the way to school some morning this week, even though I’m quite sure it will make a crummy bookmark in my devotional book.