By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY—The first day of school is exciting, as kids board school buses, reunite with friends and embark on a new year of learning, but it can also be stressful, especially for parents. Every year, the United Methodist Women of Asbury make the day a little easier for parents by hosting the Back to School Prayer Breakfast.

“This is an Asbury tradition,” United Methodist Women of Asbury President Myra Smith said. “Today is an opportunity to come together as a faith community to pray for our children… this will just be a joyful and a prayerful time.”

Complete with food, music and a message, the Aug. 12 prayer breakfast gave parents a chance to relax, pray and enjoy fellowship during what can be a stressful time.

The Back to School Prayer Breakfast was open to “anyone who children touch their lives,” event organizer Char Bonsack explained, and attendees included parents with children of all ages, from preschool to college.

Jenny Southerland, parent of a child entering kindergarten, said she enjoyed the prayer breakfast because it allowed her to spend with other parents “going through the same thing.”

“(My first day of school) is stressful, because (my child) is taking the bus for the first time,” Southerland said. “My oldest is going to kindergarten, so this is my first everything.”

This year marked Chrissy Wilson’s third Back to School Prayer Breakfast at Asbury UMC, she said the annual event helps relieve some of the stress of the first day of school.

“I’m anxious to make sure (my daughter) has a good day,” Wilson said. “It calms me down just to pray with my friends.”

The Back to School Prayer Breakfast is one of the main fellowship events organized and hosted by the missions-focused United Methodist Women of Asbury, and Bonsack said she enjoys seeing “the fellowship and the people coming together” the event inspires year after year.