Each fall, parents across the globe send their children back to school with smiles and the hope that they'll get through the year without too many stumbles or trauma.
For Louisiana mom Jamisha Harris, that hopeful first-day send-off was somewhat bittersweet this year. She and her husband both recently lost their jobs, and the family lost their apartment the day before their three oldest children—Eugene Jacobs, 10; Jorden Jacobs, 8; and Emily Jacobs, 7—were set to start their 2019–2020 school year at Idea Bridge Academy.
In spite of the hard times, though, Harris and her family went viral when the three kids showed the world that even the toughest of circumstances can be bearable with a little bit of faith. The mom of four snapped a photo of her three oldest holding hands and praying together before they went off to their first day of class, asking for safety and happiness for everyone from the family to their classmates and teachers.
“Dear God,” she wrote in a post on Facebook. “This morning I’m feeling nervous and a little unsure but thankful, I pray for my children on their first day of school. God, I give them to You. And I ask that this school year you would use every person and every experience and every lesson to shape them into Your image, to grow in them, the fruit of Your Spirit.”
“It has been very hard for all of us,” she said, referring to the family’s own recent struggles. “And with all the tragedies events that have been occurring in the world lately, I feel nothing is safe for my children and we are praying because I am sending my children into this wicked world and mommy is not there to protect them.”
The prayers provide a way for her to feel in control as she sends her children off to school each morning but also provide the children with a way to show compassion for those around them. Harris explained that the family prays for everyone in their lives—both family and community members—and for the world to become a little bit less violent than it is right now.
“We pray for everyone: teachers, bus driver, friends, family members, we pray for a change and peace,” Harris said.
“Love this!” one commenter wrote. “I hope these babies have an amazing school year and to the parents, y’all are amazing.”
Another managed to perfectly sum up what made the post so powerful.
“This is awesome. We need more of this in our world today. Their parents definitely raise them right,” they wrote.
