It's back to school time and if you're like me, you are eager to get those precious little people scrubbed clean and loaded up with new school supplies, hugged and kissed, and out the door, and off to school. The return to a "normal routine" is welcome this time of the year.

But as you send your people back to school, you do so with a bit of sadness over the fact that they are another year older, there are less marbles in your jar (have you seen the marble and parenting illustration?), and other people are about to be pouring into the minds and lives of your cherished offspring.

Unless you're homeschooling. If you're homeschooling you are giving yourself pep talks as you gear up for another year of pouring out and in to the children who call you "Mom" and/or "Dad." 

I've written on this topic before and decided today to simply give you links to the blogs and podcasts that provide you encouragement as you commit to pray your students through this upcoming year in school.

Our people come to the altar to pray during our Sunday morning worship services. They come because we invite them to come.

Yesterday (May 29, 2022) we invited them to come to lament and repent over the state of our world today. Just this past week we suffered the reality of another mass shooting event at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. We also suffered the exposure of 20 years of cover-ups and mishandling of sexual abuse in the SBC (the world's largest protestant denomination and the one we at Thompson Station Church are affiliated with). The war in the Ukraine continues to rage as does the craziness in Washington DC, and the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial. Our newest supreme court judge in waiting can't (or won't) define what it means to be a woman. (Something I did on Mother's Day--click here if you want to see how; and listen to our podcast this summer as we launch a series called "The Truth about Women" beginning next week.) 

We are living in a season of increasing...

Before you can influence the people in your church's small groups you need to build a relationship with a prayer point person in each group. Read on for simple step-by-step instructions on how to do just that.

Step 1: Connect with your small group leaders.

  If we want to change what goes on in our small groups, we will first need to connect with the leaders of the groups. The best way to reach your small group leaders is through the pastor on staff who leads them. 

  If you don't have a pastor on staff who leads them, make sure your pastor knows that you want to reach out to them and tell him what you're up to. 

What to say to your small groups pastor or pastor of your church:

"Pastor, I want to help mobilize our people to pray in their small groups, and I'd like to start by connecting  with our small group leaders. One of our primary goals for this year is to get our people actively praying for those who are lost. Would you be good with me reaching out to...