Though often filled with travel, play, and the occasional day on campus prepping for the coming year, the months of June and July for educators are a welcome season of rest. As I’ve had time and space this summer to slip into simpler rhythms and quieter moments, I’ve found these months to include a significant amount of reflection and gratitude. And as a woman who works with children and teens but does not have any children of her own, I have discovered just how grateful I am for the people in my life who teach me about parenthood.

I am grateful for my own parents, who have invested immense amounts of time, resources, and love into my life and personal formation. My mother has shown me what it can look like to embody both fierce strength and deep tenderness, and my father has always encouraged me to “be good to the people and learn as much as you can.” I am grateful for the sacrifices that they made in order to give me a Front Range Christian School education—while they certainly prioritized providing me with a strong foundation in my faith, they have also lovingly fostered space for me to choose Christ for myself.

I am grateful for my colleagues who leave the classroom at 3:15 to return home to their own little ones. From these coworkers I have learned that parenthood is at once so very messy and so very sacred. Some days, it is coming in to work after a sleepless night and trying not to cry in the staff lounge. Some days, it is grinning with pride and delight as you recount the latest tale of what your child said or did, or who they are becoming. They have taught me that parenthood is both heartache and blessing, and it is always best done in community. The struggles and beauties of being a parent were meant to be carried with others.

And I am grateful for the parents of my students at Front Range. You all have taught me so much about what it looks like to advocate for your child, because you truly do know them in a way that no one else can. You have taught me that parenthood is often about sacrificing your own interests or desires for the sake of your child’s well-being, and that the fruits of those undeniably difficult sacrifices are so incredibly rewarding. And just like my colleagues, you have also showed me how life-giving and necessary it is to share with others in the raising up of a child. It truly takes a village, and it means so much when our families and our faculty, through trust and grace and a real sense of ownership, can partner together in the personal, educational, and spiritual formation of our children.

Though all of these lessons in parenthood have left a mark on me, I am perhaps most grateful for one thing: your children. Thank you for sharing them with me and my colleagues—it is a blessing for which we are deeply, deeply grateful.