The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with saying, “Change is the only constant.”
Isn’t that the truth? Change is all around us. Seasons change as summer heat gives way to crisp fall air, leaves crunching beneath our feet. We change as we grow, trading the innocence of youth for the wisdom—and gray hairs—of adulthood. We begin new jobs or retire from long-held ones. And, as the calendar inches toward fall, we (or someone we love) may face the change that a new school year brings.
Maybe you’re the mom anxiously sending her firstborn to kindergarten, or the dad watching his middle schooler begin high school, or the grandparent celebrating as a high school graduate heads to freshman orientation or the workforce. Maybe you’re a student or a teacher anticipating a new classroom of learners.
I’m the daughter of two educators, and for many years, our lives revolved around the school calendar. Maybe you, like me, remember those first-day-of-elementary-school nerves mixed with excitement, wondering what your new teacher would be like, whether you’d make friends in your class and who got braces over the summer. Each level of education brings change with the anticipation of new subject matter, classmates and teachers.
As many of us turn our thoughts toward school, the feature department in this issue focuses on education.
- David Faber writes about loving God with our minds.
- David Janzen and André Stephens discuss challenges facing Christian colleges and hope for the future.
- Kelsey Ensz suggests ways to support teachers and students through prayer.
- David and Joanne Loewen and their daughter, Tena Roehrich, offer four considerations for choosing your child’s education.
- Shirley Holm shares about a literacy mentoring program at an elementary school.
A child’s education is important. Because of our teachers, we can read and write and speak in complete sentences and debate important topics like the necessity of the Oxford comma. We are all indebted to the classroom servants who chose to spend their days chasing first graders or braving a room of high energy middle schoolers, powered by coffee and a belief that teachers make a difference.
But education is equally important for those of us who have left school behind. Life is full of insight to be discovered through curiosity and lifelong learning.
As Christians on the journey to sanctification, we have a Teacher who never changes. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is our perfect example. By following our Savior, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and grow to be more like him.
As we navigate life’s changes, whether to school, new jobs or new stages of life, let’s walk with Jesus, the author of our faith and the One who never changes.
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and two Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals awards in 2022 and 2025. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
