Flourishing Students At Our Christian School

In several prominent places in the building, the vision statement of our school is displayed. Here it is: To educate children, equipping them for a life of faithful, Christian discipleship. What does that statement say to you and your family about why you are here? Would you agree that it is a central, motivating reason for your participation in what we do? How do we know if Christian Education is valuable for our children?

First, it is important we view Christian education as in investment in your child’s future as we seek to “start children off on the way they should go” so that “when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). The full implications of faithful patterns created now are will only be fully known in the future.

Second, we can see immediate, tangible benefits today in the here and now. In the past, someone I follow on twitter has offered a “flourishing index” for students in a Christian school measured by 10 indicators:
• passion for learning
• desire to serve and make a difference
• ability to see connections
• blooming where planted
• thinking divergently and creatively about problems/solutions
• ability to demonstrate empathy for others
• desire to act morally and ethically across all aspects of life
• understanding of how God has gifted and called them
• demonstration of effective life habits and spiritual disciplines
• determination to bring joy and hope into the lives of others

As we continue to plan another school year into existence, let’s remember the important vision for which we strive!

SJ

Mopping, Grace, and Learning at Our Christian School

I mopped up a mess in a classroom today. The kind of mess that makes stomachs unsettled as they see the end result of someone else whose stomach couldn’t keep it all in. I’ll leave it at that. Since the class was not able to retain focus for the few moments it took to clean up, I gave them two thoughts to think on while I cleaned up that mess in front of them.

Learning is never wasted in God’s kingdom. I suggested to the class that the skill of learning how to mop, which I acquired when I was a fifteen year old McDonalds employee, is still something I can use today. I suggested to the students that you never know where the pathway of God’s purpose in your life may take you. A wise custodian said that to me in my first year as a teacher.

We have a unique opportunity to help when people are hurting or vulnerable. How we treat others in these moments is revealing about what we think about our calling, our community, our neighbour, and ourselves. Extending grace and service to someone else who is an awkward or embarrassing spot is our chance to respond to God and love our neighbour. Someday we will be on the other side of the moment, looking for someone else to be gracious in our moment of vulnerability.

It’s a joy to be able to frame these teachable moments within our Christian school. We pray often as staff that our students will grow in grace and wisdom during their years here at LCES. God bless us in that important work.

SJ

A Connected World at Our Christian School

My parents once pointed out to my children where they were both born in Europe. The two very small towns were less than 100km from each other, however they lived in two very separate experiences that may as well have been worlds apart.  Only after travelling thousands of kilometres to a new land called Canada did they meet and eventually get married. I could see that it was challenging for my own children to understand that they lived so close together but were yet so far apart.

If I want to check out where my parents lived, or what the hotel I am about to book on the other side of the globe, I can virtually “walk” down the street. Surgeons are doing live consults with people who are half a world away. Voice recognition to tell your device to search for information is more than a party gimmick, it is a viable way to use a computer, tablet, or phone.

Here is something else I keep returning to as I notice these changes. Although we as parents and grandparents feel the whiplash of how fast these things change and how different it all is from a world we once knew, for our students there is little remarkable about this technology rich landscape. This is their normal, what they consider their starting point.

We are wise to follow those before us who have faced sweeping change and chosen to boldly say “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Training our student’s hearts and minds toward biblical wisdom remains our task and our best way to equip them to live in ways that are faithful in a world increasingly disconnected from our own experience.  I`m thankful for our Christian School who aims to do just that. 

SJ

Having a Party At Our Christian School

Reasons to Celebrate

We’re going to have a party.

The longer we move along God’s story for LCES, the more we become aware of God’s incredible faithfulness. From the first prayerful conversations about the possibility of a Christian school in 1960 to our joyful 2020 daily operations, God has blessed us with people, a building, and funds to carry out distinctly Christian education. The Deep Roots, Clear Vision, Bright Futures capital campaign that is wrapping up is an exciting chapter of that story.

We’ve sent out invitations far and wide to present and past supporters of LCES to a special dinner on Friday, March 6. We’ll join together as a community and give God the glory for the great things he has done. The dinner is free of cost thanks to a gift to the school. A goal has been set to add $100,000 to the $1.123 million received over the campaign. Ways and means will be provided that night for those who have never given, or wish to give again, however your presence there alone can be your participation in this evening of gratitude.

So come and be our guest at the Lamplighter Inn for a fun night of food and fellowship! You won’t want to miss this event.

SJ

The Big Things of Learning at Our Christian School

I’m delighted to have students come to my office who want me to come back with them to their classrooms to share what they’ve been doing. I’ve been invited to sample green eggs and ham, see bridge models, watch butterflies emerging, taste homemade bread, or been asked to be an object to measure with a metre stick. Exciting moment of learning happen every day!

How do we shape learning at LCES? Consider the following four pillars:

Connectedness We aim for our students to see God’s creation as an intricate, complex, and amazing example of how purposeful God is. God’s world is something to be studied as a whole, as well as in parts. 

Discernment We want our students to develop tools and have opportunities to practice, under the watchful idea of a passionate educator, figuring out what is God’s truth and what is means for them. God’s world is designed around God’s truth.

Service We strive to have our students live out the truth of biblically knowing as the study the Lord’s handiwork directs them to love their neighbor in every way, in everything they do and say. Community is God’s good gift to us.

Wonder God’s world is a thing of beauty and we wish for our students to meet God in new ways as they learn. God’s world speaks of his greatness.

Big things guide our learning!

SJ

Cold Armour At Our Christian School

As I greeted our students this frosty winter morning, I couldn’t help but smile at their layers. The smaller they are, the more bundled up as their parents attempt to keep winter’s chill out. Some are so bundled up that we don’t know who we have at school until they start to peel off their “cold armour.” Coats, snow pants, gloves, mitts, scarves, balaclava, boots, and more protect their skin and keep them warm against the frosty chill. 

Some of our students, perhaps out of a desire to get outside quicker or frustration at the effort it takes to put it all on, decide not to wear key pieces of this “cold armour.” After some minutes outside they realize they made a mistake in their haste and it has consequences.

Perhaps this is a helpful metaphor for growing in faith and wisdom through the elementary school years. Armed with truth, faith, peace, righteousness, salvation, and the Spirit, our students are being prepared to take on the challenges of learning and living by faith. Much like the tedious process of putting on winter gear, it takes time and discipline to be prepared. It is also true, however, that time and discipline invested equip them to be ready for whatever the Lord calls our students to do today, and in their future.  

In between zipping up stubborn zippers and locating stray mittens, LCES staff are at work as a faithful presence for our students. They shine the light on truth, nourish faith, value peace, demonstrate righteousness, and listen for the Spirit’s prompting. We pray that our children’s amour of God will be an intricate part of their way to love and serve the Lord forever, whatever the temperature. 

SJ

Giving the Greatest Gift at Our Christian School

A favourite Christmas stories to read to my children is The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. Joshua, a lamb who didn’t fit in and was broken, believed he had nothing of value to offer the newly arrived King. I won’t share his gift so you can enjoy the story for yourself if you haven’t already, but the gift was one that the lamb hadn’t even considered to be valuable.  

Perhaps the truest delight of Christmas gift-giving (not gift-getting) is recognizing the ability to give something that matches who you are and what you believe is important, and then giving that gift to someone else in way that is a rich blessing to them in ways they didn’t expect.

Prayer It is with great joy that I hear of people who tell me they include the staff and students of LCES in their regular prayer time. We thank you for remembering us in this way.

Money We’ve been blessed with financial means to take care of some pressing needs in our school that our operating budget wasn’t expecting. Thanks for choosing to bless us and our mission.

Time It is one of the greatest gifts we are given by volunteers who offer the work of their helping hands in support of who we are and we what we stand for.

Let’s rejoice together!  We’re also thankful for students sharing their gifts and talents. This Wednesday our students will share the story in word and song of the very best gift ever given.

May God bless our students, families, and staff with a joyous and safe Christmas break after this exciting week. God has great things in store for LCES in 2020!

SJ