Pick the Right Preposition

Sixth-grade students will yawn and look at you blankly when you try to teach them that a preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. Even telling students that prepositions help indicate, time, place, or position doesn’t bring too much light into their faces. But, when you demonstrate the definition by having students stand by their desks, near their desks, or away from their desks, it isn’t long before they are begging to stand on their desks!

Using the right preposition can change everything. You may have heard that the Bible tells us to give thanks for everything. Not so. There is no way we should be thankful for bodies or brains that don’t function in our loved ones. We are not expected to be thankful for the pain and suffering this life brings. The correct preposition in the Biblical directive is to give thanks in everything.

That means that as you face life’s difficulties, still be thankful for what is good and right in life. As caregivers we can, regardless of the pain, remain thankful that we have not been abandoned by God. He knows and understands what we experience, and He walks us through our valleys. And that’s another preposition that should bring a smile to our faces.