Numbering Days at the Finish Line

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Psalm 90:11

Family gatherings, graduations, weddings, and retirements, and other endings and beginnings  share something in common.  Often they happen in June, and often they cause our perspective to lift up out of the ordinariness of life and think about what is “right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy”  (Philipians 4:8). Our staff read Psalm 90 this morning which challenges us to make the first things first and to seek wisdom in all that we do.

In just a few days the 55^th school year of LCES will come to a close.  A student shared with me this morning that they were both sad and happy. Sad that time with classmates and teacher was coming to close. What I expected next was something to the effect of “happy that summer holidays will begin”. Instead, the student remarked “happy that I get to try again next year.”

Was the desire to try again the result of success, or wanting a "re-do" on something important. I didn't ask, but here is great wisdom in what this child shared with me in perspective alone. An ending can create a beginning, depending on how we are ready to number our days and make them valuable as we pursue wisdom. Mistakes, opposition, and even failure are the endurance road of building great things like character, resilience, and ultimately – God’s kingdom.  May we have the mindset of this young learner as we bring a school year to a close and head off toward rest, reflection and renewal.

We pray for a fantastic and safe summer of togetherness for our LCES families as they change routine, travel far and wide in God’s amazing creation, and move toward wherever God is leading them. For our graduates, and for our “gradating parents” who have reach the finish line of LCES, thank you for investing in LCES for so many years.  May God’s provision and love go with you in the new chapters in front of you.

I’m delighted that we get to try again next year. SJ

Being Known: A place to belong at LCES

“I have summoned you by name; you are mine” Isaiah 43:1

At a farewell chapel this morning, grade seven shared some thoughts about our grade eight students who graduate this week. Positive, fun, and yet very personal poetry surrounded words of care and support as “awards” were given to our graduates beginning their last week here at LCES. Being able to mention that someone doesn’t like cucumbers, struggles with a fear of heights, or silently serves others reveals that they have been known beyond a layer of superficial connection. Being known matters.

At a retirement open house this past weekend, former parents and students returned to thank and honour two of our staff with personal greetings. Specific recollections were shared of very clear memories of triumph and challenge on the road of learning, some more than two decades before. Learning has a relational context in which being known sets the stage for students to overcome barriers and cope with great challenges. Being known matters.

Very soon I’ll read over more than 200 report cards which chronicle a year of classroom learning. In addition to valuable data that summarizes effort, achievement, and even attitude, specific words are created that reveal a relationship in which students are challenged, encouraged, and even celebrated with words specifically designed for them. I admire our talented staff who do this well. Being known matters.

Our graduation ceremony this Friday will also celebrate and recognize each student in a variety of ways. Words are prepared that show each graduate is unique, valuable, and capable of serving the Lord in ways he has prepared for them. A “celebration of gifts” is the goal of our graduation event as we praise God for his great faithfulness. Being known matters.

I’m thankful that LCES offers a place for all of our children to be, and to be known. More importantly, through our words and actions, may they recognize that the Lord knows them by name and claims them as his own. SJ

Leaping in Faith

Sleeping bags, fishing rods, mosquito spray, and a great appetite for adventure were all on board the bus early this morning. I had the opportunity to pray a blessing over our grade eight class and wish them well before they left for an adventure of a lifetime. Three days at a Muskoka sports adventure camp in the beautiful “near north” of Ontario started today for them. May God go with them.

Among the many activities they do on this trip, some involve risk. Trained staff and safety equipment ensure that risk is done within a safe setting, but regardless students are challenged to face elements of risk and perhaps push themselves to do things they may first shy away from. One of the most dramatic has the significant name of “The Leap of Faith.” With helmet donned and safety harness double checked, students have the challenge of leaping off the safety of a precarious platform 35 feet up into nothing but empty space to ring a bell or hit a ball that is just out of reach. I’ve made that leap myself years ago at this camp and can attest that jumping into a “free fall” becomes a mind-over-body matter.

While this class trip is underway and details are nearing completion with our upcoming graduation, new risk takers are being organized at the other end of the school. A “test run” portion of a day for our future JK and SK students is being organized. It asks them and their parents to make a “leap of faith” into a new stage of life with so many implications.

Our staff, board, and even the larger provincial organizations supporting Christian education are all

poised to make new beginnings and “leaps”. Before them are new areas and ways of working that

they don’t have experience with or an entirely clear understanding of. Being intimately connected

with the Bright Futures Campaign this year has given me a new appreciation for the “leap of faith” of those who first organized LCES, and for our campaign venture that seeks to also make the equivalent leap into our future that God is showing us.

During chapel this morning I noticed a student’s T-shirt that proclaimed Psalm 145:4 - “One genera-

tion commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” Recounting the might acts of

God in the past and present allows us to make these “leaps” into the future with confidence. May we

continue to leap forward in faith in all we do! SJ

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Do you know these busy LCES staff members?  They are enjoying their last month of working with students at LCES before retiring this summer.

Between the two of them, Janet Holtrop (Resource) and Janet Laarman (Gr.1) they have nearly 50 years of service combined at our school. That is a lot of students, lessons, report cards, field trips, meetings, parent-teacher interviews, and most importantly – teaching! 

Eugene Peterson talks about the concept of “a long obedience in the same direction.” In God’s economy of kingdom building, faithfulness is measured not only by dramatic, highly visible moments of creation, innovation, change, but also by doing the most ordinary and routine of things with care, clearly understanding that “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Colossians 3:17)

We thank both of these well-known servants for their part in the story of our school and helping us to with their “long obedience” toward the direction of a school that teaches God’s truth, delights in God’s creation, and guides God’s children to find their place in his world.

A drop-in coffee/tea open house will take place on Saturday, June 18 from 10am-12pm. Feel free to drop by the school, say hello, and share your thanks and celebrate this milestone with them. Spread the word!  SJ

An Invitation From a Student: Will You Stay?

Students entering our building on any given morning is a moment that I greatly enjoy. Their return back to school creates a pulse of energy and clarity of purpose that draws me in.  Whether it is with smiles and laughter, tired faces, or even concerned looks, they leave their world at home and become part of a social situation of learning and growing for the next number of hours.

Last week I was greeting students in the hallway as they arrived and was drawn in to a classroom where students were sharing things they were busy creating. As the class settled toward their morning routine with their teacher, I was prepared to make my inconspicuous exit. Just before I did, a student approached me and asked “Mr. Janssen, will you stay and join us in our devotions?”  There was only one right answer. I quickly took my place on a chair that was moved in place for me. 

“What should we be busy doing until Christ returns?” was the main question the class centered on after reading the Matthew 24 text. I listened to their reflective answers about learning, serving, growing, and waiting. In a communal prayer, students offered prayers of thankfulness and requests for healing, wisdom, and anticipation of needs they saw as real and personal. There is something incredibly powerful about the prayers of children that admonishes adults to pray with greater openness and trust about anything and everything. I left to attend to the work waiting on my desk having been blessed and moved by the incredibly valuable habits of faith being developed in that classroom.

I’ve often been wondering out loud lately if the nature to Christian Education ought to be better described as being invitational more than it is confrontational. In the same way that Christ welcomed little children to come to him, God’s world and God’s community beckons our students to explore, create, celebrate, and share as they take on every day. Praise God that is what our students encounter everyday at LCES.

I’m glad that I stayed. SJ

Mission Statements and Luggage: The Value of Unpacking

A podcast that accompanied me while working this weekend taught me something. I listened to an interview that highlighted the fact that Coca-Cola has a mission statement. Their mission is “To refresh the world, to inspire moments of optimism and happiness, and to create value and make a difference.” All this from a beverage company? I was intrigued. No mention of profit, growth, or creating a thirst-quenching monopoly.

I’ve been thinking about our school’s vision statement lately. “To educate children, equipping them for a life of faithful, Christian discipleship.” The power of these statements is their simplicity and ability to focus efforts. Their challenge is that as simple statements they can remain disconnected from daily practice because they resemble well-packed luggage that is never (or rarely) opened.

Here’s is my attempt to “unpack” our valuable vision statement.

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.

Servitude 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. God’s world is one of community.

Wonder God’s world is a place 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

Process and Content: Reflections on Genius Hour

Many years ago my brother and I chose to drive 6 hours to witness the PhD defense of my brother-in-law. Our reason for the trip was primarily to show family support and encouragement, not because we expected to necessarily understand or gain anything from the content of the actual presentation.  During the intensive review of his multi-year work, one of the things that amazed me most was the focus on what hadn’t quite worked out, what was unexpected, and what he should do differently as he continued to expand his research. I learned that the process mattered as much as the content.

I was asked to come to grade seven last week to attend “Genius Hour” presentations. Mr. Hosmar had opened up class time for quite a number of weeks that allowed students to commit themselves to investigate something of their own choosing. There were few requirements, but a key objective that was supported was to encourage reflection about the process of doing the work they set out to do. Students planned a wedding, designed shoes, created stop-motion animation, made a butterfly house, and attempted to improve basketball shots with technique. What did it make them learn, perhaps even about themselves, by doing the work?  What do they now want to do? It was a pleasure to have conversations with them after their presentations and have a window in on their own learning. What they shared was less about the content of their learning, and more descriptions of how they had self-guided themselves through obstacles and challenges.

The nature and purpose of learning continues to change as we move through time.  We do not “serve” content in neat ready-made packages to students, we aspire to develop patterns of exploration, reflection, and self-actualization – doing the important work of risking something new to grow in wisdom and understanding about God’s amazing world.  May that learning never end.  SJ