Justice Seekers

“That’s not fair” said a student this morning as they encountered the first conflict of the day. I took a moment to help said student recognize that fair doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing, it means everyone gets what they need.

At a conference on Christian education that I attended a few years back, a speaker summarized the central task of what Christian schools are called to. Beyond simply “filling” students with information, his summary was that “Christian schools ought to seek to recapture the first loves of our students and redirect them to the core of the gospel.” By first loves he meant the things that students long for, the priorities they organize their growing understanding of the world by, the objects or experiences they find value and identity in, and ultimately what it is they think they are living for.

This morning I listened in as a classroom re-visited the familiar story of Christ’s pathway to the cross. Students were led to consider the trial at which Jesus was accused of falsely teaching and leading people away from what was considered true and right in the eyes of the Sanhedrin. The students were both stretched and surprised as they saw the unjust nature of that particular trial, and the importance of valuing and maintaining justice as a society. Connections to stories of injustice, either personal or more public like those highlighted by the high-profile court case starting today, were meaningfully connected. This is the stuff of significant learning that changes lives.

Jesus speaks to us at length about the importance of taking up the plight of those who experience injustice in its many forms. It is our prayer that LCES works alongside the efforts of family and church to train the habits of our children to not only know the gospel, but as part of their core-being response “be” the gospel to a world that needs it. That’s a habit worth practicing! SJ

A Day of Growth

Have you ever finished a day with a feeling that you have much to think about, much to do, and much to be thankful for? I had that experience yesterday during our PD day here at LCES. It was a day of
encouragement, learning, and fellowship for our staff.

The day started with one of our grandparents in a devotional context unpacking the instruction of Christ to “Feed my sheep”. This extended conversation between Peter and Jesus has much to tell us about providing for the nurture of God`s children in an educational organization like ours. Rooted in relationships, we are humbled by God`s plan for us to be a part of teaching a generation to know God's Word and world.


We moved on to spend time working with our school`s program of study, or what we call “the curriculum.” Organizing the pathway of learning from JK-8 is of great importance and remains an on-going task as we refine the best of what we already do and incorporate new content and methods in order to be responsive to your children’s needs. Framing curriculum with essential questions as: “How do seasons affect animals in Canada?” or “Is there such thing as a just war?” helps students to learn with purpose and direction.


All staff were blessed with a hot lunch served by the LCES board. Lingering conversations over good food always grows community, something we are so thankful for at LCES.








In the afternoon we examined mental health as it relates to students in elementary classrooms. Did you know that 25% of the population will experience mental health challenges at some point in their life and that 50% of those health challenges will have emerged, at least partially, already by age 14? Statistically, one in five school-aged children will struggle with mental health in some fashion. We were blessed to have Shalem (http://shalemnetwork.org) give us tools for recognizing concerns and a framework to approach challenges.

Praise God for the abundant blessings continually showered on our school. SJ

Cold Armour

As I greet our students coming in these winter mornings I can’t help but smile at their layered approach to keeping the cold at bay. The smaller they are, the more bundled up they are as their parents attempt to keep winter’s chill out. Many of our JK/SK students 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.

Going anywhere with children takes longer this time of year if we want them to be protected. 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”, later to recognize after some minutes outside that they made a mistake in their haste that has consequences.

The content of chapel this morning was a reminder of the importance of putting on the Armour of God (Ephesians 6:11) in its completion to keep ourselves well-protected and prepared with the right tools for life. Armed with truth, faith, peace, righteousness, salvation, and the Spirit our students are made ready to take on the challenges of learning and living by faith. Much like donning winter gear, it takes time and discipline to be prepared, however that time and effort equips us to be ready for whatever the Lord calls us our students to do today and in their future.

In between zipping up stubborn zippers and locating stray mittens, LCES staff are doing the important work of being a faithful presence for our students by shining the light on truth, nourishing faith, valuing peace, demonstrating righteousness, and listening for the Spirit’s prompting. We pray that our children’s amour will be an intricate part of their way to love and serve the Lord forever, whatever the temperature. May God bless us in that important task we work toward everyday here at school. SJ

When does learning happen?

I was recently surprised by an answer to a good question. Here’s the question asked by a teacher, both of himself and his audience of educators: How do I know when my students are learning?

“I know that they are learning by the questions they ask of me or each other in response to what we are doing.” His response was excellent and pointed to the fact that learning is not a destination, but a pathway that moves to further learning and, when good council is present to guide - wisdom. Many times teachers will comment that they have prepared a set of great questions to ask of students, only to have them be cast aside for different pathways of learning brought about by fantastic questions students offered in response.

A former high school teacher in my life used to close out Friday afternoons with us and pray a blessing over us before we departed. Anticipating the opportunities and pathways, some of them not worth taking, that we may encounter before Monday morning, I remember her frequent expression “remember who you are and why you are here.” The often used words were offered with a quick smile and with a humorous tone, but I was certain then that there was a real level of challenge that was meant to be taken quite seriously. That phrase was used with enough regularity that we grew to anticipate the quip each week.

What do the questions we have for our students reveal about what we believe? What are the questions we want to have so commonplace our students grow to ask them on their own?

“Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” are two key questions that shape learning; our unique answer to
them at LCES is part of what makes Christian education distinct. Our students are God’s children,
uniquely and wonderfully made by their creator. They are challenged to see themselves as being ready to have hands quick to serve, eyes prone to marvel, and hearts ready to love others and love God’s amazing world.

 SJ

Our Children, A Story in the Making

During the Christmas break my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a wedding and celebrate along with family and friends as vows were exchanged. The December night chill was chased away by the warmth of a happy crowd sharing joy and enjoying fellowship in the unique atmosphere of an old barn.
What a joy to be together for such a reason.

I loved the speeches made by the grandparents and parents. In between the family jokes and embarrassing memories, there was such a vibrant story of God at work in the lives of His people, shaping and directing a path that was tangibly felt and clearly observed. Significant life occasions like births, weddings, funerals, and anniversaries have a way of simplifying life with a remarkable clarity that reveals what really matters and where our priorities should be. They are touchstones that can help us to bring importance into the smallest and most mundane aspects of daily life; everything matters as we aim to launch our children toward faithful living and future success.

Both the bride and groom were people I had known and observed as young people in Christian education and family life, though certainly not knowing that they would become husband and wife. As I listened to the recognition of the character traits of this young people as described by their future in-laws, I was struck by the important work of raising children and teaching them the way they should go. The story of who this young couple had become and the content of their character was a project more than 25 years in the making. It was filled with devotion and care in hundreds of conversations, thousands of actions, all pointing in a certain direction and with a clear purpose.

It is our prayer that our words and actions at LCES this year in 2016 will also be aligned in direction and purpose with what you, our parents, are doing as you raise your children in faith. We look forward to being a faithful presence in your family, helping to shape 191 stories that unfold a little further every day.

God-bless us all in this new year. SJ

A Fresh View of an Old Story: What is in your nativity?

I found them in a stable
Kings and shepherds gathered round
It seemed there was no room 
For the likes of me there to be found

I could not understand it
But I had to see the child
When the mother bade me to come near
I swear I saw him smile

Then I heard what sounded like 
A thousand chains breaking apart
And a door now swinging open
Letting light enter my heart (The Innkeeper L.Gallant)

It’s not hard for Christmas rhythms and rituals to become detached from their significance and meaning. Routine and repetition of the well-known Bethlehem narrative can dull the event down to a cozy, warm story that is more of a hot chocolate memory than the transformational-for-all- time event heralded by a sky full of God’s finest.

I`ve always appreciated songwriters who, like Lennie Gallant above who has the innkeeper recount how the story changed him, move us away from ritual and unrealistic ideas of Christ`s birth toward deeper reflection of what Immanuel – God with us was like for the inhabitants of the chaotic city of Bethlehem, with all of the rough edges included. The innkeeper’s realization above that Christ’s birth was for him too helps us to see God knew of our need of a Saviour that night in Bethlehem so long ago.

Our students will also tell the story of our Saviour`s birth at the Christmas Program on Wednesday.
It will challenge us to see it without the layers we add to it by custom or ritual, but rather for the real
story of love and grace that God`s only son given to us really is.

May God grant our community peace, love, and lasting joy as we recount the best story ever told.

SJ

Raging Nations and "Peace on their lips"

“Why do the nations so furiously rage together
          and the peoples plot in vain?” (Psalm 2)


Our bright LCES hallways and classrooms of relative peace stand out in sharp contrast to the wider world which longs for peace, knowing peace more by its absence than a currently reality.

U Thant, then United Nations secretary general from Burma, addressed 1600 delegates from 42 nations in the late 1960’s with a question. “Why is it for that, for all our professed ideals, our hopes and skills, peace on earth is still a distant objective seen only dimly through the storms and turmoil of our present difficulties?”

Translation: Why haven’t we figured this out already?

The question reads as a lament as much as a real question for us to consider. With Remembrance Day thoughts only a month behind us, the rise of tension internationally, and the violence witnessed last week in California we can find ourselves hard pressed to believe the good news given to the Bethlehem shepherds long ago announcing `peace on earth.‘ We still wait for the world to recognize the authority and follow the pathway to the peace the Christ child made possible. The rage of nations still feels like a forest fire of hatred that leaves behind the scarred remains of hope the world over. Families are torn apart, people are displaced, and suffering and disillusionment saddens our hearts through the images of war we see.

Where do we go with our craving for peace? God’s Word. David’s mention of raging nations isn’t the final word. That is found in the book of Revelation where John proclaims: “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.” (Revelation 11:15-18) The nations rage, but they cannot change the final outcome. The battle has already been won. Our task in Christian education is to so capture our student’s hearts with the peace of Christ that they are compelled to speak with "peace on their lips" (Isaiah 57:10) and act with mercy.

May peace abound in the hearts of our students and transform them as they pronounce Christ’s
kingdom that will one day come, and is already here. SJ