Love is a Battlefield

by Jennie Smith
Secondary Principal

I am more convinced than ever that our enemy seeks to destroy marriages and is unfortunately succeeding in many lives.  It seems that every time I look around, I hear of another marriage under attack.  I have even recently walked through a dark valley in my own marriage and am coming out the other side victorious in Jesus.  In our culture, there are so many things that tempt us to walk away, to give up, to go running.  We get distracted with our busy-ness, our children, our sin, and even our church activities.

Dr. James Dobson gives the image of marriage as two people in a row boat.  When the wind and waves come, they are thrown apart - riding the waves in the opposite directions.  To keep those boats together requires intense rowing - a lot of hard work, especially considering the rough waters.  Some lose strength - because of discouragement, because of disappointment, because of sin - and allow the waves to take them farther apart.  Others are able to struggle in their own strength, but eventually become weary and if the marriage survives they are weather-beaten and weak.  The smart ones give their row over the best Pilot and allow Him to calm the storm and lead them to safety.

This weekend I attended my cousin's wedding reception and they provided cards to give marriage advice and greetings.  I thought a long time about what to say....I've only been married for 15 years - and have had a bumpy few months - what could I possibly share that would have any value or worth?!  All of a sudden, a verse came into my head and I paraphrased the passage for them - applying it to marriage.  Here it is for all of you in a more expanded form:

If you love Jesus and if you find any benefit in your relationship with Him, if you feel any tenderness and compassion, then in your marriage, be of one spirit and mind.  Keep your eyes always on Jesus.  Do nothing out of selfish motives, but in humility, consider your spouse more significant than yourself.  Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of your spouse.  Your attitude should be the same as Jesus, who although  He was God, did not use that to his own advantage, but He humbled himself, and served others, even to the point of sacrificing His life for the ones He loved.  You do likewise with your spouse (Philippians 2:1-7).

Isn't that really the key after all?  If both spouses take Jesus's attitude with each other, forgive as Christ has forgiven us, extend grace and mercy with each new day...if we see them as God sees them - wearing the righteousness of Christ and use that as our motivation to pour into their lives and seek to meet their need, I firmly believe that there won't be much room for our enemy to take a foothold.  With the perfect Pilot, we can navigate those rough waters that most certainly will come our way.

What is the best marriage advice you've ever received or given?  Share in the comments below or on our Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/faithchristianschool

It's Time to Slow Down

by Jennie Smith
Secondary Principal

What's your dream vacation?  Mine involves a beach house, six to seven good books, a daily nap, and spending quality time with my boys.  I got pretty close to that this year...it was a cabin in the forest, two and a half good books, an occasional nap, and great quality time with my boys.  It was relaxing and as close to beautiful as I could get.  But before the beauty came the battle.

We arrived Friday evening and had a great day Saturday - exploring a variety of activities at the resort.  And then came Sunday...The sleeping accommodations were not satisfactory.  The playground was too small.  The pool has too many rules.  Do we have to have sandwiches again?! My personal favorite was:  The pool fogs up my goggles!   And, of course, when you are out of other things to complain about....I'm bored!

I wanted to slow our lives down for seven days.  For seven days I wanted to take a break from the hustle and bustle, from the vegetating in front of video games that occurs too often, and look each other in the face and talk.  Doesn't that sound nice?  For this up and coming generation, this is difficult.  Their lives are full of activity and slowing down feels like pure torture and no where near what some of us would define as a "vacation."

But I've decided that it is absolutely necessary - and very much worth the battle - to teach my children to be still.  If they are too busy to have a face to face conversation with their parents, how will they ever make the time to have a conversation with the Lord?  So while it may be a battle to teach them to slow down for a time, it is a skill they need to learn.  Much like we teach them to clean up after themselves and be polite to others, we need to teach them to quiet down their lives, even if it is for a short time.

If you decide to embark on this type of journey with your kids, here are some suggestions that come as a result of what I now call..."The Sunday of Complaints:"

Prepare them
While I thought I had given them the basic overview of what our week would be like, I think I made it sound too exciting.  In attempting to make them look forward to going on this trip, I painted a picture of all kinds of activities we could do.  I should have also said, "I'm really looking forward to some quiet time too.  I can't wait to play Uno as a family and challenge you to a game of chess.  But I also plan to read a book and spend some time being quiet with Jesus."  I think we could have avoided a little of the drama by talking about the quiet times as well as the fun times.

Be honest
As I was talking with the boys that Sunday afternoon, I got really honest with them.  I told them that I had planned this vacation for us, picked the resort, planned the meals, packed us all, and dreamed about the kind of time this would be for us as a family.  And I said, "With every complaint you make, it hurts my feelings."  I wasn't doing this to manipulate, but I felt they needed to know what their words were doing.  Don't be afraid to bare your heart to your kids.  I think this is one of the main reasons they worked hard to appreciate what the vacation had to offer - they desired to please their mom and not hurt her feelings.

Provide a Complaint Notebook (kudos to my mom for this idea!)
That Sunday I put out a notebook and pen and said that any further complaints could be written down, but not verbalized.  I figured this would be a good outlet for them to register their disappointments and for me to have some peace.  Surprisingly, I heard no more complaints, but the notebook was empty too. 

The vacation ended up a complete success.  We had an incredible time as family.  We talked a lot, laughed a lot, played a lot, and were completely blessed as a result.  Hear the thoughts from the guys themselves:

Levi (12 years old):  "It was fun.  We spent a lot of time with Dad" (who works second shift)  "There were some times where there wasn't really anything to do, but it was fun.  The go-karts were fun and fast.  It was worthwhile to slow down."

Caleb (9 years old) "It was fun and really good.  It felt good to get out of the house and heat.  Our family time was really good and we slowed it down a lot.  It went really, really slow, but at the end of the week it felt like it went fast.  I would do a slow down vacation sometime."

Drew (4 years old):  "It was cool and I wuv it.  I like playing Uno...and Chess...and Skipbo...and the park...and go around the bridge...."




 

A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Please welcome our first guest blogger,
Michelle Szymkowski, Elementary Lead Teacher

As a new bride, now having been married for approximately 51 days, 15 hours, 32 minutes, and 27 seconds… I love my husband. I mean, I really love my husband. While I am aware that he is in fact human, and that somewhere hidden behind all that cuteness is an imperfection or two, I thus far remain blissfully ignorant. Does this mean that he has maintained the first date façade? By no means. I am confident that he has been entirely himself with me. While he must have at some point done at least one thing wrong, my mind continues to draw a blank.

“Love keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:5

He has somehow cast this spell upon me since day one that allows me to see only the best in him. Although I do find it strange: why is it that his laundry always makes it to the floor, but never just 6 inches to the left where the hamper is? Must be the pull of the earth’s magnetic field towards the poles…hmm.

“Love is patient.” 1 Corinthians 13:4

Anyhow, I began to ask myself: why can’t I love others the way I love him? I could write a novel about all the ways the world has mistreated me, hurt my feelings, or just generally didn’t meet my standards, but I somehow find it adorable when Erik turns the AC in the car off for the 30th time just so he can get the extra boost to make it up the freeway off ramp. Ah, who am I kidding – that bugs me. The point is, there are a select few people in my life who certainly have not been perfect, but my love for them has never wavered. Why the discrepancy?

I believe I have discovered the difference; the difference is there are those whom I choose to love and those whom I try to love, if they earn it, and if I feel like it. Ah did you catch that? I said if they earn it. Unfortunately, I meant to say that. For the vast majority of the world, my love is conditional. I am good at loving the loveable.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

God doesn’t just love me when I’m loveable. He didn’t wait for me to earn His love. When I was broken, while I was His enemy, when I forgot His promises and chose to live like I knew better, the Creator of the universe chose to give His life for me. Did I deserve it? No, I deserved far worse.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

The world teaches that what goes around comes around. If someone has wronged you then they will “get what’s comin’to ‘em”. My students deserve my patience when they respect me, but if they are misbehaving, then I no longer need to treat them with grace. I have even gone so far as to suppress my love towards those whose problems became bigger than my own. After all, it’s hard to love sinners. The world teaches an eye for an eye. But if I were treated as my sins deserved, I would receive death. Instead, God removes my sin from me and places Christ’s righteousness upon me.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:10-12

Rather than asking how I can love others like I love my husband, I should be asking how I can love anyone like God loves us.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John4:19

Michelle Szymkowski (formerly LeBlanc) has been involved in some way in the Faith family for over 15 years. She was the last of 4 LeBlancs to graduate from Faith (5 if you count her sister-in-law). Right after graduating, Michelle began to serve at Faith with the high school worship team which she had been a part of throughout her time as a student. She is now entering her 5th year as the 5th and 6th grade teacher and will also serve as the Elementary Lead Teacher beginning this upcoming school year. She received her B.S. in Family and Human Development from ASU.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-8