Joy!

by Meridith Borta, Elementary Principal

“I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart to stay. And I’m so happy, so very happy. I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heaaaart….“

Well, you get the idea.

This was one of my favorite songs as a child. As an adult, though it is sometimes difficult, it is one of my greatest desires to be able to wholeheartedly sing this song with the same passion and truth as I did back then. As a believer in Jesus, I have every reason to be joyful--my God has overcome the world!

The Bible tells us time and time again to rejoice. Psalms 96:11-13 says, “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

Psalms 47:1 says, “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!”

Do you have this joy? Or have you allowed your circumstances to fill you with anxiety, despair, sorrow, or a downright bad attitude.  

One of my favorite quotes on this topic comes from Charles Swindoll. He writes,

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

It seems a little easier said than done at times. Face it. Life is hard. How can we turn our bad attitudes to joy? How can we keep the circumstances from robbing us of our joy?

First, we must answer the question, “Are we really called to rejoice during those hard times when nothing seems to be going right?”

Well, Philippians 4:4 tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Notice that the Bible does not tell us to rejoice only when things are going our way. It says ALWAYS! And then it says it again. . . Rejoice! It must be important. 

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Regardless of what is going on around us, we can rejoice in our circumstances. We are reminded again in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Is it time you got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy BACK down in your heart?

The Love of Reading

by Jennie Smith, Secondary Assistant Principal
and Avid Reader

A good book can sweep me away for hours - I ignore housework, grading, and even sleep for a good read.  I'd rather read a great novel than watch TV or a movie.  I often wonder...how can I make my kids love books as much as I do? 

The August 2012 Family Fun magazine had an excellent article called "Encouraging a Love of Reading: 7 Ways to Inspire Your Kids."  Here are a few of my favorites, mixed with a few of my thoughts:

• Start a book by reading the first few chapters or pages out loud to them.  Use lots of vocal inflection and character voices to make it super interesting.  Then let them finish on their own.
• Make a game out of it.  Have the whole family read the first part of a book no one has read and then everyone has to guess how it ends.  Have a prize for the one who comes the closest to the real ending and the one with the most creative ending.
• Take them by surprise.  Cancel bedtime to let kids stay up late reading a good book (on Friday night of course).  Or have a family read-a-thon and everyone pile on mom and dad's bed or make a cozy reading area in the living room with pillows and blankets.  Take turns reading great passages to each other.
• Introduce your kids to the "book leprechaun."  Surprise your kids with a great book hidden somewhere in the house. 
• Vary the format.  There's no law that says a reader must have a physical book.  Let them use an e-reader or tablet or audio book for something different.  With today's techie generation, this type of format may appeal to them in a more significant way.
• Let them choose reading material based on things they like: sports, cats, or orcas.  Print out cool articles you see on-line or pick up an interesting magazine for them.  Reading is reading whether it is a book or a short article.
• One mom in the Family Fun article describes how she set up themed reading areas on occasion for her daughter.  She would set up a tent "with flashlights and books on camping, bugs, and animal tracking."  Add some s'mores and you're all set!  She also did a tea-party hideaway with themed books and stuffed animals and snacks.

Fostering a love of reading is one of my life goals for my children and my students too.  Making it interesting, light-hearted, and fun may be the key to watching them flip the pages of a book with the rest of the world tuned out.

If you would like more information on Family Fun magazine, you can visit their website at familyfun.go.com

Why?

by Jennie Smith
Secondary Assistant Principal
and Mom to Levi

It was a beautiful Sunday morning.  It was Spring, life was great - I was married to the man I had prayed for all my life.  I had the teaching job I always wanted, and now I was one month away from delivering my first child.  Life could not have been more blissful.  Brent and I had not slept well the night before, so we decided to skip Sunday School (shhhh....don't tell anybody).  While we were laying in bed resting, I felt the first pangs of childbirth.  I wrote them off as my first Braxton-Hicks....I was only 36 weeks after all.

But the pangs continued...through church, through my traditional Sunday afternoon nap, and by 2:00 that afternoon, Brent and I were in the hospital preparing for the birth of our son.  We were nervous, but thrilled!  At 7:11 pm, on April 22, the on-call doctor held my child and before she laid him on my tummy she said..

"Did you have an ultrasound?"
"Yes," I said.  I expected her to follow with..."Did you know it was a boy?" 
But instead she said, "Did you know about the cleft?"
"No," I said.
The next 2 minutes were a blur.  I knew she was talking to me, but I couldn't get it... "repairable....surgery...lungs sound good..." 
And then she showed me my beautiful, first born son.
There was a hole in his face...
...a dark, black hole that I didn't understand. 
But I fell in love anyway.

Levi - just a few days old

After meeting with the plastic surgeon a few weeks later, and getting a grim picture of multiple surgeries over the course of his life, I was overwhelmed.  A wise man and his wife stopped by that very day (yes...it was Mr. B) and I asked if it was ok to ask God "Why?"  Why did MY child have to go through this?  Why does everyone else get perfect babies and I'm asked to walk this road?

He pointed me to the story of the man born blind from John 9.  The disciples asked Jesus why...why was this man born blind?  Was it his parents who sinned or was it because of his own sin?  They were looking for the answer to my very question...why was Levi Brandon Smith born with a cleft?  Was it my fault?

"'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be revealed in his life'" (verse 3).

Levi (with his wonderful smile), Caleb, Drew

Is it ok to ask God "why?"  Sure...but He's already given us His reply!  For a Christian, this is the answer to every "Why?"   This happened so that the work of God might be revealed in (fill in the blank here)'s life. In Levi's life.  In my life.  In your life.

And God has been revealed in Levi's life - His work is very evident.  If you know Levi, be sure to ask him how he has seen God's hand.  He has a wonderful testimony.  We no longer ask why Levi has a cleft.  We simply thank God for the opportunity to see His glory.

"I Don't Want to Do Homework!"

by Dick Buckingham, Administrator

Show of hands, how many of you have heard your child say that or something similar in just the few short weeks since school began?  That’s what I thought, just about all of you.  Put your hands down now.  I actually heard this on the very first day of school coming from a 1^st grader as he was heading to the parking lot with his mom.  Even my first thought was, “What cruel, heartless teacher gives a first grader homework on the very first day of school?”  But then I checked myself and asked the first grade teacher what was given as homework.  She said she asked the students to review their spelling words for ten minutes.  Ten minutes.  That was all that was asked, yet a first grader went home that day feeling the crushing weight of grammar school pressing down upon him.

In my 20 plus years in education, I have seen and heard just about everything there is to see and hear on the subject of homework.  Is it valuable?  Does it have a purpose?  Is it even necessary?  To be quite honest, when I first began teaching, we were encouraged to provide a lot more homework than is able to be given today.  What has changed?  Why is there always this struggle over homework between students and teachers, families and schools?

The biggest reason is our culture of life has changed dramatically.  When I grew up, a family’s life revolved around three things, family, church and school.  Each had their place and each was given priority.  Gradually, over the years, other things have crept into the lives of families and children.  Now the big three competes with soccer practice, instrument lessons, dance,  karate, gymnastics, swim practice, drama practice, television, video games, texting, surfing the web, connecting with people on Facebook, Twitter, youtube, and Myspace, and a host of other social, athletic, artistic activities that fill our childrens’ lives to the point of overflow.  Add to that the busyness of parents with their work and other responsibilities, and you have a recipe for everyone complaining about something they are not sure is all that beneficial.  So let me answer a couple of questions you may be asking.

Is homework necessary?  Yes, for a quality education, it is.  When a teacher presents a concept or idea, she gives students the opportunity to express understanding in the classroom.  But for most, we don’t truly display much of a level of understanding until we have tried it again later, on our own, without someone telling us what to do next.  For some concepts, it is necessary that we get what we were taught today before we move on to additional concepts or levels tomorrow, so having a student practice a few problems or do some reading in the afternoon at home makes it clear to both student and teacher if it is time to move on.  From my own experience, some subjects just cannot be taught adequately without there being some time with the student doing work on his or her own.

How much homework should my child have?  Homework policies vary widely from school to school but at Faith Christian School, we use the ten minute assessment.  An average student should on average be assigned about ten minutes of homework a night per grade level.   An average first grader would have about ten minutes, an average second grader, twenty, an average third grader, thirty, and so on.  Junior high students should expect about 90 minutes of homework.  By the time a student gets to 9^th grade, we expect an average student should have about two hours of homework a night, on average.  At any grade level, there may be some nights with a little more or a little less, but overall it should average out to about the ten minute per grade level

Why don’t we just figure out a way to teach kids without all the extra work at home? To be honest, this is exactly what mainstream educators and education innovators have been trying to do for several decades.  While they may say that they have successfully reduced homework while keeping the academic level high, the reality is all they have done is lower the standards to make it appear the academic level is the same.  Look at any study that compares the academic achievement of students around the world and you will see over and over again when compared to students from other important countries, the level of education in the US has slipped dramatically over the past 20 years.  We work with a lot of students from other countries at Faith Christian School and I often ask them what school is like in their native country.  In most cases, school lasts hours longer than it does in the US, often well into the evening, and they do little other than school work at home.  There is a high priority on education that keeps them working hard.  The results cannot be denied.

Are you suggesting that my child shouldn’t be active in things outside of school?  All of the things that I listed above have their value and benefit.  I think it is critically important that parents carefully think through and prioritize what is really the most important activities and use of time for their child.  More often than not, your child is not going to be a famous actor or athlete.  But even if he or she is, they along with every other child will need to be able to read, do math, think critically and have a relationship with the One who made them no matter what they do vocationally.  The education of our children needs to be a high priority in our families.  You only get one opportunity to train your child in the basics.  You don’t get a do over.  You want to make sure they get the most out of their schooling opportunity.  There is nothing inherently wrong with any of the above activities if done in perspective of what is truly important.  Parents may need to reduce some of the extra activities particularly if their children are feeling overwhelmed.  If given a choice, a child will no doubt choose what is fun over that which seems tedious and mundane.  But as parents, we need to help our children see the important long term benefits of a solid, well-rounded education.

Have other questions about homework that I have not addressed?  Respond to this blog and I will do my best to answer.  Know someone you think this blog might help?  Take a moment now to share it with them or share it with all your friends on Facebook.

Has Stress Got You Down?

STRESS!

Knowing that this was my week to write for the blog, and knowing that the deadline was quickly approaching, I found myself feeling a bit stressed to find a topic that would be of interest to our readers. Apparently, the answer to my searching was staring me in the face: STRESS!

Let’s face it. We ALL deal with stress from time to time (for some of us more than just from time to time). We live in a face-paced world that seems to want to leave us behind if we don’t keep moving, moving, moving. With that comes the stress of keeping up with all of our responsibilities and making sure that the balls in our wonderfully-impressive juggling routine never drop. Being a mom of 3 young girls and working full-time, I definitely have my fair share of stress.

But God does not call us to a life of stress and worry. 

Not only is stress unhealthy, the Bible speaks clearly about laying our anxious thoughts at his feet. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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”. (NIV)

What an amazing promise! In the same light, what a difficult command to follow at times. 

So why do we worry in the first place? Matthew 6:25-34 addresses this very question.

Verses 25 through 27 say, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

It continues in verse 34 to say, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. The problem, of course, that this is often easier said than done.

Stress is wreaking havoc in our lives and in our world. Not only can you NOT (yes, a double negative from an educator) add a single hour to your life by worrying, you can actually LOSE hours and even years from your life! Among many other things, stress results in all kinds of sicknesses and disease, anger, and poor judgment. Might this be the reason that people, those who are normally considered sane, rational individuals, get on the freeway and turn into angry road-ragers? (Don’t worry. I’m not pointing any fingers).  The point is . . . stress is bad for you and can keep you from being who God wants you to be.

Several years ago, I was severely burdened with worry. I felt constantly consumed by my stress to the point that I felt a physical weight on my shoulders. I worried most about situations I felt were completely out of my control. Ironically, a release of that burden only came when I realized that I am NOT in control, God is!  

This is not to say that I don’t struggle from time to time with stress. Oh, I definitely do.  But I have recognized some things I can do to help me keep it in check:

1)       Pray – Ask God to give peace in the times that are most hectic and stressful. It is worth reading Philippians 4:6-7 again, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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.”

2)     Listen and take to heart what the Bible has to say about worry (and HOPE!) and take encouragement from His word.

3)     Relax and put things in perspective.

4)     Check your attitude. I am amazed at how my attitude and my response to my circumstances can play such critical role in my stress level.

5)     Count your blessings and be thankful. Your job may be stressful, but you HAVE a job. Your family may be difficult, but you HAVE a family. Your finances may be tights, but look at ALL you have that others could only dream of.

6)     Ask for help. If you are like me, you get a little hung up on just doing everything yourself. It is okay to ask for help. There are usually people around you that will not only be willing to help, but WANT to help.

7)      Talk to a faithful and Godly friend who can help bring you back down to earth and encourage you in your trials.

8)      Push some things off your plate (and DON’T feel guilty about it). Let’s all practice a simple little word . . . “No”.  You may have to tell someone that you are unable to take on an additional responsibility for now. Maybe you can re-evaluate that responsibility when things calm down a bit.

Whether you are stressed about finances (the leading cause of stress), work issues, relationship conflict, health problems, or just the overwhelming circumstances of life, God has more for you than the burden you are carrying. Worrying will not add a single hour to your life and can do significant damage if you are not careful. Take it from a recovering worrier, lay your burdens at God’s feet and just see how He will work!

It Begins!

By Jennie Smith, Secondary Assistant Principal

School started at Faith Christian School yesterday!  It was a busy day, but one full of joy and excitement!  As a parent, the start of school can be a hectic time.  So here are some of my thoughts (and advice I always share to school families) for getting the school year started off right.

    Set aside a family quiet time each school night.  

        During this time, the television is off and the whole family is involved in “work.”  While the older students are doing homework, younger children can read (or be read to), mom and dad can work on bills, correspondence, or their own reading.  Even if there is no specific homework for the next day, the time can be used for general studying or reading. 

Know what is going on. 

        Schools are trying to communicate effectively with their families.  Read any newsletters or correspondance that comes home ASAP.  Subscribe to email newsletters, check the website, and check out facebook and twitter for school accounts.  Schools are trying to reach you where you are and provide as much information as possible, but parents need to do their part in reading what comes home.   

        Also, be aware of your child's homework load.  Ask to see daily planners so you can be know what has been assigned.  If it seems that your child's homework is excessive, talk to the teacher and get some insight to help your child.  It may be that they are doing more than the teacher expects.

Organize. 

       Attempt to prepare as much as you can the night before.  It will save the morning rush.  Pack the backpacks; be sure all homework and books are in it.  If your child needs to take an instrument or special project, set it by the door as a visual reminder.

Encourage your student to treat Fridays as a school day. 

       Do homework that afternoon rather than waiting until Sunday night.  This will free up Saturday and Sunday for fun and relaxation.  It is a challenging habit to get into, but there will be very little regret for doing so.

Last and most importantly – PRAY.  Pray with and for your child.  Pray for the teachers.  God is listening.

A Temporary Democracy

“ A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”

“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.  During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith
• From spiritual faith to great courage
• From courage to liberty
• From liberty to abundance
• From abundance to complacency
• From complacency to apathy
• From apathy to dependence
• From dependence back into bondage”

The actual source of the above quote, most often attributed to an 18th century Scottish history professor, (Alexander Tytler) cannot be verified.  The list in particular, rather than having the authority of a history scholar and educator was most likely authored in the mid 20th century by the president of a company that made, of all things, cork; not a very authoritative position or resume for something so serious.
However, it is rather sobering as it seems to accurately describe the path of America.  The first four in the list above accurately describe the founding and successful growth of this great nation.  The next three seem to be descriptive of the things we are greatly concerned with presently.  And the final one is a great fear we share for our future.

While the list has resonance with us, let us stick with what we know.

a. There have been many great and powerful nations before the United States that for one reason or another no longer exist except as memories in our historical studies.  Think of the amazing Babylonian, Persian, Athenian, and Roman societies of a time now past.  I cannot image that anyone who lived during these days would have ever thought there would come a day when these empires were spoken of in the past tense.  Even with all the problems they endured, people still thought these nations were too powerful to not continue.  Even the later of these empires, though looking back on the earlier failures, would have a certain amount of confidence that they had found the answer to avoid repeating the previous falls.  As much as we would like to think America will be different than all the other nations, it will not.  The reality is nations are not eternal.  In Isaiah 40, God compares all the nations combined to dust on a scale or a drop of water on the outside of a bucket.  They are of no significant consequence.  Only God matters.  He alone is eternal.

b. Nations don’t last primarily because they are human institutions and are prone to the foibles of the sinful human nature even with the best intentions and carefully worded foundational documents.  The heart of man will always tend toward evil and he will find a way to accomplish what he desires every time.  The only answer to deal with the sinful heart is to turn to the redeeming God and seek His one and only solution for forgiveness and cleansing.  What this country needs is not new laws or political philosophies or parties.  What we need are new hearts and new minds recreated in the image of our Maker.  We need revival.  We need the truth of the gospel to pervade every arena of our society.  Yet, as we have seen so evidently recently (Chick-fil-A), the sinfulness of man will resist and fight back against that as well.

c. We must be careful not to put our hope in nations.  The scriptures say, “Some people put their trust in chariots and some in horses” (Psalm 20:7).  Men always have the tendency to trust what they can see and know by experience.  They think the government or institutions of men are the place to turn for help and relief.  But these things are vapors in the wind.  The only thing we should put our hope in is God himself.  It may very well be that we will face hardships, persecutions and trials unto death.  But God is the only one we can depend upon to be faithful.  Consider the situations of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel.  They were forcefully removed from their homeland and made to live and serve in a land not of their choosing.  God watched over them and was faithful to them even when they faced the death penalty.  That is the God in whom we trust.

d. We need to be careful to pass this truth on to our children.  Nationalism is fine and patriotism is great.  But for believers, the reality is this world is not our home.  We need to help our children understand that there may be difficult days ahead for American and its Christian citizens.  We need to prepare them to be faithful as was Daniel and his friends and to stand firmly upon the truth and never waiver.  In order to do that, we must do the same ourselves.  I believe the day is soon coming when we shall see open persecutions of those who belong to Christ.  Parents you must prepare your children for the possibility of that.  A great resource for older children is Foxes Book of Martyrs.   Read through this with your child and help them to see the experience of believers from a time past and how they dealt with the hardships of persecution.

There are three things I would like to ask each reader of this blog to do.  One is to make comment.  I would like to hear what you have to say about the state of our nation and its future.  Two, please think of at least one other person to share this blog with and pass it on to them.  And three, no matter what party or candidate you support, the election in 2012 is very important.  Make sure you know the issues and the candidates' stands and vote.