School Update & Examining Priorities

Our daughter's unique school just wrapped up the third quarter, so it seems like a good time to provide another update.  The school has experienced a lot of change during its first year of operation, but the staff has adapted with amazing flexibility and grace.  When the founders decided to act on their dream of establishing a private Christian school that incorporates homeschooling curriculum and a family style environment, they hoped for 15 students the first year.  A month before Labor Day, the school had 50 students enrolled and already needed a larger facility. By the week after Labor Day, they had found a new building that accommodated twice that number of students, completed construction of interior walls, painted, decorated, and passed county inspections.  All those are amazing accomplishments, but passing inspections in a timely manner within this particular county is nothing short of miraculous.

The school has continued to grow.  Our daughter's class size grew from seven to 18, so the class had to be split to accommodate all the new students.  The enrollment process has begun for next year, and the school received the school's maximum capacity, 100+ applicants, by April.  The school needs a larger facility once again after only seven months of operation.

Several of our friends specifically chose public school for their children with the God given desire to shine His light into the secular school system.  The public schools certainly need more devoted followers of Christ serving as teachers, parents, or students, so I salute families who are involved in the public schools for evangelical or discipleship reasons.  I hunger for more opportunities for our family to share our hope in Christ and am happily discovering that major ministry can take place in a private Christian school as well.

Christ is clearly the focus of this school.  Each month the school selects a Biblical virtue and Bible passage to focus on that month.  Scripture memory, worship class, and academic learning all center around God and point to Him for His glory.  Once a month, the school invites someone, usually a pastor, to speak at the parent praise assembly about the virtue of the month.  Even though many of the kids seem to not be paying attention as expected for that age, the response to these mini sermons has been amazing.  A number of students have made first time commitments to Christ at these events while others have pledged all that they have, all that they are, and their entire future into His service and calling.

The students' Easter program also gave parents a glimpse into the amazing work God is doing in this lives of these students.  I will confess that I was amused at first by the setting.  The school meets in a metal strip mall style building. There are classrooms, a family room, an office, and a large meeting area where the kids eat lunch and host school wide assemblies.  The school does not, however, possess an auditorium to accommodate so many family members and students.  So, the Easter program was held in the alley behind this metal structure with parked vehicles, dumpsters, a play set, and a wooded area as the backdrop.  Some devoted volunteers spent many hours setting up a stage and sound system for the event to redirect attention to the cross.

The K-2 class recited poetry and sang Easter songs.  One of their selections included the infamous ditty, Little Bunny Foo Foo. Unfortunately, my little homeschooled kindergartener loved the song upon hearing this class present it and sang it repeatedly ad nauseam the following week.

K-2 Class

The 2-5 class performed a cute selection of songs and poems with choreography while donning ornate Easter hats.

Our daughter's class presented a drama based on the classic book, The Tale of the Three Trees.  It is a tradition in our family to read this book every Christmas, but it is also appropriate for Easter.  Our daughter played the role of the first tree who dreamed of becoming a fine treasure chest to hold great treasure.  This tree was disappointed when a carpenter fashioned the tree into a feeding trough instead.  Eventually, that same feeding trough held the baby Jesus, the greatest treasure to all mankind, on the night of His birth.

Screen capture from video I took of the 3-6 class's drama

The high school class also presented an Easter drama and led the crowd in a time of worship.

Worship Dance Team

An especially moving portion of the program was when the students presented cardboard testimonies in the spirit of those shown here.  While I did video tape this presentation, out of respect for student privacy, I will not share it here.  As each student used their cardboard signs to communicate how God had changed their hearts and lives, almost every parent wept.  Students who previously faced rejection, loneliness, bullying, or all sorts of negative peer pressures in previous schools have now found love, hope, peace, and friendship through Christ.

After the student presentations, a faithful pastor delivered an Easter message and an invitation.  Many more students came forward to receive Christ.

I no longer view this school merely as an institution for learning. It has become a refuge for the hurting and a beacon of light to the community.  This humble, bare bones school is effectively ministering to hearts and souls because the power of God is drawing kids into a personal relationship with Christ as the students and faculty offer unconditional acceptance and love. As long as Christ is the focus, fruitful ministry will result.

The earliest schools were established to teach people to read so they could read the Bible.  America was perhaps her greatest when Christ was Lord over the schools. Over time, the focus of education, particularly within the secular university system, has shifted away from Biblical doctrines and moral precepts to pure academics.  Now knowledge (without wisdom because true wisdom comes from God) has become the supreme virtue while Christianity has been emphatically disdained (reference Expelled).  This change in focus is producing a selfish, unhappy, anxious, immoral, divisive, and disrespectful generation (with the exception of those are adequately and radically converted and equipped to defend the faith).

I've been talking a lot lately with my daughter about the top priorities for her education.  This girl who felt no motivation to pursue scholastic excellence while homeschooled is now excessively motivated in her schoolwork.  The complete change in her attitude toward school confounds me.  She has gone from one extreme to the other, which is especially surprising considering the laid back attitude in her classroom and no pressure from her parents regarding grades whatsoever.  Her motivation comes from within.  During long talks and Bible meditations, I've been trying to show her God's primary goals for her in life.  I asked her to name the two greatest commandments Jesus gave to summarize all of God's commandments.  She accurately answered:

1) Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
2) Love your neighbor as yourself.

We talked about how giving our best effort at school glorifies God, but the grades themselves simply do not matter for eternity.  Yes, good grades in high school may get her into the college of her choice and perhaps a scholarship. Good grades have their merits on earth, but they are not eternal and must not distract us from the more important things God has called us to do.  I told her that my greatest desire for her is to love God passionately with all her being and to know Him intimately.  May she find all her hope and answers to all her questions from Him, not the world.  My next wish for her is that she would devote herself to loving others and putting them before herself.  So, we've been making lists and illustrations to help her understand what loving God and loving others looks like.  It isn't something we can will ourselves to do in our own strength.  Love comes from God and flows out of a vibrant relationship with Him.

In a world that pushes children to excel in every area of life, praises intellect, artistry, or athletic elitism, and presents wealth and position as the top goals in life, how can we as Christian parents teach our children to prioritize the eternal over the temporal?

I'll close with a fun photo collage of my daughter's class.  They cut out silhouettes as self portraits.  I'm sorry to confess that I did not correctly guess which one was my daughter's during my first guess.  One of my friends who has photographed her and spent hours edited those photos guessed correctly, though.