Welcome to LCES!

While in Canadian Tire recently I noted that customers waiting to check out could be enticed to purchase air fresheners in a strategically placed display. Among the pine, tropical passion, cinnamon spice, and others was “new car smell.” Obviously there are enough people who want that smell to be part of their car-driving experience to make it an option on the shelf. Why? Perhaps because at the start of a car’s life, with its paint, upholstery, tires, and glass in pristine and dust-free condition, we might think there is no limit to what we might explore and no embarrassing dings, scratches and dirt that tell the story of our less than perfect past.

A new school year feels much the same. The happy sounds of students moving about LCES filled the halls again today as they met up with old friends and made new ones. Fresh bulletin boards, new shoes and lunch bags, sharpened pencils, and new clothes were on proud display. After more than two months of very quiet hallways, the building is vibrant and its pristine waxed floors and squeaky clean desks make our hearts soar at the limitless opportunities and potential for what this year may bring.

To be clear, fresh new beginnings for staff, parents, and students are important since they offer us a chance to see more optimistically the God-created potential of what may happen for us and our students. However, much like the fading new car smell and first scratched bumper, it doesn’t take too long before we realize that our best aspirations are still restrained by our weaknesses. These frustration moments turn into growth moments when we realize that God uses us, dents and all, for his kingdom. So when the luster of this year may start to fade some, recall that God’s love never does.

Our theme for the year, Walk in the Way of Love, will soon be boldly displayed in our school’s atrium. The text from Ephesians 5:1-2a gives our staff and students a clear and direct mandate to love others in a way that reflects the way that God loves us. Christian love thinks first of others, then of self. We pray our staff and students may be blessed as they make the year-long journey of living out that truth. We are “dearly loved.”  Praise God!