Hello, all. Today I have the pleasure of announcing an addition to the Board of Directors of Evangel Classical School: Mr. Max Kulishov.
Max was added to the board ranks at the September meeting of the Board (an extended offsite retreat) and for many of you, he requires no introduction. I’ll introduce him anyway.
Max is even more impressive than his LinkedIn profile, because no bio (or mugshot) can capture the twinkle in his eye as he’s discussing things that may make you and I pine for cyanide. Max is an accountant, and a principled one. His bookkeeping and accounting work for Efficient Business Machines is only the most recent (albeit long) adventure in a series of pencil-pushing endeavors that help business stay solvent, exercise wise initiative, and manage fiscal risk, all while improving the lives of others.
It is this combination of experience, vision, faithfulness, and commitment that makes us particularly excited to have him helping us out at the Board level.
With the retirement of Jim Martin, Max will hold the office of Treasurer and is already doing some work to help us in our the proactive marketing of the school.
Beyond his credentials however, I am excited to have Max joining the Board for a bunch of personal reasons. He has been dedicated to the mission of Evangel Classical School since before he enrolled his firstborn (Boaz) at the school in the fall of 2017. His four children have all gone to ECS since kindergarten, and his family has been invested deeply in the school and its community that whole time.
Max is going to make us better in ways that many in the school community may never actually notice, but that are important, nevertheless. And Max is fine with that. So when you see him around campus, give him a greeting and a word of thanks, and pray for God to bless his work alongside the rest of the Board.
Here we are at the start of another school year, and every family is in a different place. Some of you may be lamenting the end of summer while still excited for the year ahead. Others may be hoping this was the right decision. Still others are of the seasoned-veteran variety whose only actual concern is whether or not one box of colored pencils will be enough this year.
Of course there are bell schedules, reading books, and a stockpile of bandages to address turf-burn from recess activity. But sometimes lost in the daily chaos is the what precisely we’re up to at Evangel Classical School, and why we’re doing it.
When you applied to ECS, signing off on our mission statement was part of the deal. But it’s possible you haven’t read it since. It’s a lofty one, and it reads like this:
We commend the works of the Lord to another generation, with the tools of classical education, weaponized laughter, and sacrificial labors, so that they will carry and advance Christ-honoring culture.
Ours is a cultural work, and the academic aspect represents the first tool of that work. Those colored pencils are fixtures in the first graders’ desk, but they’re in service of a cultural project. That first grader is becoming a weapon fit to flank his father in the city gates with a tool belt that would make Batman jealous and a smirk that would impress King Lune.
There are a host of other tools that we wield in this work and they help weaponize our laughter, such as a 2nd grader’s burger in the parking lot on the first day of school, or a well-reasoned argument from the mind of a 8th grader, or a combative psalm on the lips of a senior. Handle with care!
Our mission assumes some important lessons from Psalm 127, and it’s always fitting to revisit them.
First, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (v. 1). If God is not at work in the families of ECS to finish these arrows, we are wasting our time. But He is at work, and we are confident that He’s using a host of tools to fashion the students of ECS into the weapons He wants them to become. In other words, it is because God is at work that we work; it is because we are confident He will bless our labors that we keep going forward in faith.
Second, “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth” (v. 4). Like me, some of you can only recall the “youth” part; its experience is in the past. I’m more concerned presently with the arrows in our classrooms. These cute little kids, the lovely ladies, and the strapping young men wearing the Raggant uniform are arrows in various developmental stages, and it takes eyes of faith to see it. Arrows go through a host of phases and steps in their development, but the end product is both beautiful and dangerous.
So we’re about the work of enculturation, arrow making, worship, and math fact mastery. We’re about the work of debate, submission, obedience, and battle…and constant fellowship maintenance. As you talk about your child’s day around the dinner table tonight, and stuff her backpack tomorrow morning before sending her off, may God give you the eyes to see what’s actually happening.
There’s always a reason to be glad for whichever season you’re in, as each season has unique features and opportunities. One thing I particularly enjoy about summertime is listening to books while working around my property, and in the last couple of weeks I’ve re-listened to a handful of gems that I recommend heartily.
As we routinely observe at school, good books affirm principles found in Scripture. We should not be surprised when they resonate with us, even if the author is not a Christian.
A secular leadership guru can tell you that leaders who take responsibility gain influence, but he probably doesn’t understand the Deep Magic that makes it so. Of course we know that the gospel teaches that death brings life, and people on the receiving end of loving sacrifice (like your children!) thrive at the expense of others (like you!), and the cycle is actually glorious. And still it takes faith to walk it out.
I’m fond of saying that it takes faith to believe what you know. You may know that God is calling you to sacrifice for others even when they are ungrateful. You may also know that this is a formula for their flourishing even if it is costly to you. You may also know that such costly labors are the sorts of things that God loves to bless. You may know all this, but do you actually believe it? Are you walking it out? Does your life feature this sort of sacrifice?
It’s true that our motto is a relentless reminder, but it’s just as true that we put “evangel” in our name for a reason.
Death brings life. Believe it.
There’s no better time to get this belief right down to the marrow of our bones than the start of the school year, because it’s about to get gloriously real. Are you ready?
Many of you will be aware that this year ECS added Track and Field to its spring sports offerings. Technically we only offered Track, because we don’t have the equipment, space, or know-how to offer any Field events just yet, so we stuck to running.
We were fortunate enough last weekend to send five athletes (four distance runners and one sprinter) to the state track meet in Yakima. It was a great weekend in just about every way, but my aim for the moment is to make a few quick observations from the weekend as one who was witness to the Raggants’ representation among some 125 other schools from the state of Washington. Now, my focus was on our school, not other schools. I have no interest in disparaging any other school, though I am interested in our presence in the state, and there were folks there from all over the place who heard about us for the first time last weekend.
My first observation is this: We are not athletically exceptional. Our boys finished in 10th place of 35 schools, and our girls finished 15th out of 41 schools. Many other schools – even some sister classical and Christian schools – were better represented, and good for them! We did fine, and especially for a first-year program. We even brought home a championship in one event, but athletic prowess was not our defining feature.
My second observation is this: We travel well! We had about a dozen people make the trip over to watch our runners who were not related to any of the runners, and we had another twenty supporters who were related to the runners. The results is that there was a loud orange party in the upper right corner of the grandstands. When a Raggant was announced at the starting blocks or on the podium, our pocket of fun erupted.
My last observation is related to the one just before it, namely this: We bring the party. We found the cheapest motel in Yakima and turned it into a resort. The pool was closed for maintenance, but our intrepid Raggants had a good time anyway! There was a gravel lot across the parking lot…and we had a frisbee, five abandoned rubber tires, a wiffle-ball and bat, an ice chest, a Blackstone grill, and a lot of food.
Seventeenth-century Anglican theologian Jeremy Taylor quipped that “God threatens terrible things, if we will not be happy.” The obvious implication is that God wants us to be happy, and to delight in Him by receiving well the good gifts He gives. This is impossible for those who refuse to give Him thanks.
Conversely, a grateful and joyful life is compelling. We have a fun duty to have a great time when we are among unbelievers. King David penned it well: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5). God provides what we actually need all the time, everywhere. I’m not categorizing our athletic opponents as enemies, but the majority are secularists, and we want to make them jealous for the blessings that we have in Christ.
I’ll say it again: Like the Apostle Paul, we are trying to make others jealous, and this is faithful obedience (see Romans 11:11-14). We want them to have what we have because God is good and gracious and it can be theirs in Christ. We did not earn our blessings, they are gifts from God. What I saw this weekend was an on-the-ground demonstration of this sort of faithfulness, and I was encouraged. It was inviting…and it was supposed to be! We offered barbecued chicken to more than one passerby, and left the grandstands cleaner than we found them.
As it turns out, an athletic program affords all sorts of opportunities to engage with the world and showcase the joy of Christ. From enthusiastic volleyball crowds to soccer supporters that hang around long after the game is over to track observers who share cookies with fans from other schools, we get opportunity to apply our feasting mindset. And it also turns out that a trip to State presents these opportunities in spades.
The sports seasons are over for now, but we’ll do it again in the fall with volleyball, soccer, and cross country. Don your outrageous orange T-shirt and come see what I mean, and maybe you’ll get an opportunity to boast in Christ before secularists while cheering on our teams.
Don’t look now, but we’re only a few weeks from our annual Fundraising Feast! (It’s on the calendar for Friday, May 15, 5:30pm.)
That’s a good thing, of course, but it is but one of many events that are featured near the end of the school year. It has been a good one, and preparations for the fall are well underway.
I suppose some may roll their eyes when I say that the Feast is one of my favorite nights of the year, but it’s completely true…and it has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with the human blessings that God brings to the school.
The Fundraising Feast is a feast, to be sure. On that night we receive with intentionality and pause to give God thanks for His favor toward Evangel Classical School. It’s important not only to be thankful but also to show it.
Still, the fundraising element is really important. The Fundraising Feast helps us to cover the gap between tuition dollars and the cost of operating a school, including helping the teachers to feed their families.
I realize this may seem short-sighted. After all, isn’t all this talk about finishing the year strongly and about the budget for the coming year awfully here-and-now? Why are we not talking more about where we’d like to be ten years down the road? Those are great questions! And for some of that, I hope you’ll come hear what we have to share.
This year’s Feast will be at the Mule Palace in Arlington (19920 43rd Ave NE, Arlington, WA 98223). It’s a change of venue, but just as fun as others that we’ve enjoyed over the years. Many of us have been there before, and it’s a real party, even if you’re not a mule.
This year, we will only be featuring the high school students in the program. The dinner will still be free, but it will remain a dinner for adults, and we will not be able to provide childcare. Again, this is a change from previous years, and it means we will not be inviting students from grades K-8 to the Feast.
Additionally, we will also be populating the tables differently. We are asking for volunteer table hosts to fill a table of ten. If this sounds fun, to you, great! Please be praying for the evening and start extending those invitations! We encourage you to look beyond our immediate school community as you do so. And by all means, invite your pastors, as it’s our desire for all of our area pastors to be aware of the work we are doing at ECS.
Those wishing to host a table are encouraged to contact Aisha Bone. If you do not wish to host a table, but still want to come, please do! Simply register here or contact Aisha Bone directly: abone@evangelcs.org or 360-502-6950 (call or text).
Happy spring, and I hope to see you at the Feast, Friday, May 15, 5:30pm.
Why We Make the Raggants Stand Up and Speak Before an Audience
If my records are correct, our first Rhetoric Tournament was in January of 2017. Back then it was dubbed the “Speech Tournament,” and by my math that makes this year’s version our tenth annual!
That was quick.
In that time the Tournament has only gained momentum and gravity, drawing all the Secondary students into its vortex. With a mountain of Secondary House points on the line (not to mention bragging rights), the stakes are higher every year.
When something is around for a decade, it can become part of the cultural fabric. There’s less of “Why do we do this?” and more of “We’ve always done it that way.” Perhaps this is a good time to review why we practice so much public speaking at ECS. Let me suggest three quick benefits of rhetorical practice.
Rhetorical practice helps a student to establish credibility. (Ethos) Any rhetorician who wishes for his audience to believe him must establish some credibility. If a speaker has his reasoning and his argumentation is completely dialed in but happens to be a selfish jerk, all his devices are for naught. Or as a far better man than I am once said, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). Quintilian defined a rhetorician as “a good man speaking well”…but he must first be a good man. And such “good” men will emerge as leaders in the generation to come.
Rhetorical practice inspires others to follow. (Pathos) Ours is a culture that is increasingly dependent on artificial intelligence and communication via text message rather than face-to-face. A man who can speak the truth with both boldness and grace will inspire others to follow a compelling man unto their own blessing.
Rhetorical practice helps a student to order his thoughts. (Logos) We utilize a series of rhetorical exercises called the Progymnasmata, which were developed to help the trainee articulate himself on his feet in a host of contexts eloquently and persuasively. Latin (an inflected language) and logic classes help students learn to be careful and even precise with their language, but when it comes to ordering thoughts and ideas, Rhetoric is particularly helpful.
Of course, there’s a lot more that can be said about ethos, pathos, and logos, and much has been said elsewhere. But these are some of benefits that come to my mind when thinking about our Rhetoric Tournament.
This serves our mission well. If we wish for our students to “carry and advance Christ-honoring culture,” then they’re going to need to speak well. The rest of our curriculum gives them something to say; Rhetoric gives them the tools to say it. The Secondary Rhetoric Tournament (and the Grammar Speech Meet, and more!) gives them an opportunity to practice this important skill.
If you want to see what that looks like, stick around next week and find out!
Recently I was speaking with a female staff member about another Christian school that – though a good school – has experienced more crises than ECS. She immediately quipped back to me, “That’s because of our men.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, drama just doesn’t gain traction with our men.” She then proceeded to rehearse a couple of recent examples where women were spiraling up drama until it hit one of our men and totally died. And none of this was crisis-level drama, just run-of-the-mill drama that didn’t get to swell into anything spectacular.
I’m not saying women are the problem any more or less than men. But when over-masculinization or over-feminization take hold in institutions or cultures, bad things follow.
In a recent article for Compact Magazine, Helen Andrews argues that the increasing wokeness in our culture is largely owing to the majority feminization of fields like academia, media, law, and medicine. Some of the stats are rather surprising, and the whole article is worth a read. Though Andrews does not appear to be a Christian, she’s definitely conservative, and her observations are both compelling and incisive.
Now, you may be looking ahead at the length of this article and going, “Oh no. Where’s he going with this…?” Fair question. The fact that Andrews’ is doing a polka on thin ice says more about the ice than the dancer. Why is this such a hot topic? Because she’s onto something.
I sincerely appreciate the women that we have working with us at ECS. Their presence is both welcome and helpful. Women with backbone help to promote the right sort of manliness even among the men while also fulfilling a vital role in any culture, including a school. That’s good!
But I also appreciate our men. When a little boy scrapes his knee at recess, it’s often a big girl who ushers him to the office where a woman (probably) will help patch him up. When that same little boy throws a pine cone at that same big girl at the following recess, it’s usually a man who privately counsels him on how to honor women. Both are important! If the men did all of this work it would not be as good as when the ladies share the load. Sometimes a boy needs some Neosporin and a band-aid, but sometimes he just needs to rub some dirt on it and get back to the game.
What Andrews is talking about is not the physical presence of men or women in the institutions as much as the over-feminization of these institutions (of which the female majority population is a symptom). When institutions are marked by feminine virtues, they are often institutionally frustrated. If institutions are a plant, women are water for the plant and men are the soil. While the illustration only goes so far, what happens when you have no soil? Nutrient-poor soil? No water? Too much water? Right. It doesn’t work.
I agree with Andrews that over-feminization in our culture is a big problem. In fact, it’s actually worse that Andrews suggests, because she makes no mention at all of the feminization of the Church which is perhaps a more harrowing example than all her examples put together. Still, acknowledging these issues does not require that I hate women (like Mrs. Andrews. Ha.).
But what about ECS? Glad you asked.
We are trying to provide a context for the flourishing of our students. If they can flourish in our walls, receiving an excellent academic education from an unapologetically Christian worldview punctuated with rich music, deep fellowship, playful laughter, and appropriately rough handling, they will do well when they leave. Those who have developed an appetite for meat are not easily satisfied with milk. Likewise, we are wanting for our students to flourish and then to pass that cultural baton to their own children.
Keeping the peace is a “peace” of cake compared to fellowship. All you have to do is establish who is afflicted and submit to her. Easy! There’s no need for repentance or figuring out who is actually right or wrong. This is a terrible and dysfunctional inheritance to hand our children.
Consider another example you could see in a school like ours. In a freshman Omnibus class, Janet declares that she’s offended by something thought-provoking suggested by Susie, demanding that Susie apologize. Susie has a choice: She can A) apologize, keep the peace, and tread lightly from now on, or she can B) respond that it was but a suggestion to provoke thought, which it evidently did.
And by the way, the rest of the class is paying rapt attention to this, taking notes for future reference.
But fortunately, the teacher in our scenario is not easily manipulated and puts the ball back in Janet’s court. His shepherd’s crook is ready for Janet:
Janet, what do you find offensive about Susie’s comment?
Should Susie’s aim be to not offend you, or to pursue the truth?
If Jesus was offensive, should our aim be to avoid giving offense, or to avoid giving needless offense?
Is Susie’s comment causing you or anyone else injury?
How would you refute her comment using reason and Scripture?
If feminization held sway in this class, Susie would need to apologize for causing offense before any forward movement occurred. Rather, in this class, the masculine engagement in civil debate evidences that the pursuit of truth is the aim, and everyone is better for it.
Let me reiterate: institutions, fields, and communities need both masculine and feminine contributions by men and women. I could easily write an article about the abuses of over-masculinization, and the problems to follow would be dire…but that is definitely not our problem, no matter what the feminists say. Our problem is not too much initiative, nor too much sacrifice, nor too much rigorous debate in the interest of the truth and a way forward. No, our problem is the omission of these ingredients, as they’ve been replaced with emotionally-driven decision making and women who step into the void left by lazy men. These women are bearing a load different from what they’ve been designed to carry, and it’s as sensible as a man carrying a baby under his T-shirt.
As image-bearers (and especially as Christians), we get to glory in the uniqueness of manliness and womanliness as a display of God’s glory in creation. When one is neglected and the other is over-emphasized, things get out of whack.
What we see in today’s woke culture is a great example. Andrews says this: “Everything you think of as ‘wokeness’ is simply an epiphenomenon of demographic feminization.” She later remarks, “Everything you think of as wokeness involves prioritizing the feminine over the masculine: empathy over rationality, safety over risk, cohesion over competition.”
Andrews is right: We must get our priorities straight or we too will suffer the consequences. It may not be the case that the masculine nerve our ECS is entirely owing to the presence of men on our teaching staff, but it sure helps! Having our men standing at the gates during recess or at the doors during lockdown drills brings a sort of sacrificial stability that is a good example for our younger men as well as a context in which all the students can be secure.
Even if we need to keep getting better, may ECS feature both godly masculinity and femininity.
I don’t know about you, but I want my kids growing up thinking that some of the things we do this time year are normal…even if they’re not. Singing and celebrating for weeks (Advent) is better than singing and celebrating for one day (Christmas). If the Incarnation of Christ is a big deal, it’s worth meditating on for weeks every year. We celebrate Advent with activities and little presents and parties all the season long, because I want them to grow up associating this time of year with fun memories and purposeful anticipation of Christmas.
Of course the songs we sing play a role in this, too. The second year of the school’s existence was the school year 2013-2014. I was teaching Omnibus II and in the first quarter of the school year we had studied the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed has a lot in it about Jesus, the second Person of the Godhead, as the Council of Nicaea was very concerned to address the heresy of Arianism. They established orthodoxy on the person of Christ with these words:
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.”
Imagine the fun weeks later when my students and I arrived at verse 2 of “O Come, All Ye Faithful:”
“God of God, Light of Light, lo, He abhors not the virgin’s womb; very God, begotten not created; O come, let us adore Him,” etc.
Studying the Creeds helped me to better understand why the hymn writer saw fit to set this theology to music in order that we may rehearse it every Christmas.
Incidentally, this is another reason why we almost always sing all the verses of the psalms and hymns at school: there are hidden theological gems among some of the lesser-known verses.
Have you ever noticed too, that a bunch of our Advent hymns focus on the second Advent of Jesus (aka, the “Second Coming of Christ”), while we sing them remembering His first Advent?
This is because traditionally Advent served a dual purpose of 1) getting people ready to celebrate the first Advent of Jesus (at Christmas), and 2) getting people ready for the second Advent of Jesus. Many of the hymns we sing reflect this, and we should cheerfully lean into it. I’d encourage you to pay attention when singing Advent hymns this year, as you get ready for Christmas Day.
Celebrating Advent is fitting as the occasions we celebrate and anticipate are also a big deal. It is appropriate to extend the celebration to include the four Sundays leading up to Christmas because it’s too little to restrict it to one day.
So whether it’s singing or partying or watching It’s a Wonderful Life or The Grinch (2018 version!), THINK about what you’re doing, make it fun, and do it on purpose.
This is a potentially more controversial letter (and longer!) than I typically write in this space, but I think it’s fitting in the current cultural moment.
The celebration of the assassination of Charlie Kirk on the part of many on the political left has been very revealing. Of course, not all were guilty of this detestable celebration, but that there were any at all is illuminating. What sort of person would find such a murder to be a cause of celebration? What sort of a person poses such a threat that the enemies of God celebrate when he’s sniped by a coward? The obvious reality is that there still are actual people in the world who delight in the high-visibility murder of a godly man…just as in Jesus’ day.
This is not an encomium of Charlie Kirk, though that would not be inappropriate. Rather, it’s a statement of another obvious reality: In a host of ways, ECS is working to produce people like Charlie Kirk. What sorts of people do I mean?
We need people who acknowledge their own shortcomings, repent of their sins, and embrace the free grace of God and identity in Christ. Such people are unfazed by their enemies’ attempts to discredit them on the grounds of past sins for which they’ve been forgiven.
We need people who will fight. For too long Christians have been listening to the world tell us that being loving means not fighting. We let the world set the terms of engagement. We stand by when they tell us how Christians are allowed to behave as they work to discredit us. Acknowledging that we don’t need their help (that is, we’re doing a perfectly good job discrediting ourselves without their assistance), the narrative is still potent: Anyone who won’t turn the other cheek to all manner of blasphemy and slander and violence is unloving and shouldn’t call himself a Christian. This, of course, is hogwash.
Our Christian culture is anemic; it’s weak, lacking the blood-iron of conviction, and so it comes as little surprise when we start to talk like them. How many times were we told during COVID how Jesus would have us to act? And how many of those lessons came from the world? We were ill prepared to engage on intellectual, biblical, and convictional grounds.
Alas. We must fight. It’s been said that grace has a backbone; we need to practice a godly disagreeability. And we should not suppose that we’re going to get out of here unscathed, whether we choose to fight or not. For some, this means staying the course where you are; for others, it means engaging in ways that you’ve been reticent to do in the past.
The fighting we’re engaged in at ECS is deceptive because it involves cute little kids. Nevertheless, the kingdom of darkness suffers violence when our first graders recite the Apostles’ Creed. Satan, Beelzebub, Moloch, Ashtoreth, Baal, and Osiris recoil when we sing “Blessed the Man that Fears Jehovah” at Matins. Why? Because they’re threatened and offended at the notion of generations of the godly enjoying sweet fellowship.
We also need people who fight graciously. Love powers and directs our fighting. It is a love for the truth, a love for the innocent, a love for the marginalized, and a love for the defenseless that energizes and orients us. A compassion for people who are destroying themselves (like the victims of self-mutilation nicknamed “gender realignment”) requires that we share with them that identity is something given by God, not by self.
Our love for people of every skin color comes from the realization that man’s real and infinite value comes from the fact that he bears God’s image. The very thing that gives men value is actually common to all men; therefore, no one human is inherently better or more valuable than any other. Though some cultures produce people who bear God’s image more accurately or potently, it’s not as though they’re inherently superior. Because we embrace an objective standard outside of ourselves, we don’t have to carry the burden of those who try to find meaning, identity, and reality in themselves.
We need people who fight fair. Christians tend to opt for softness while our enemies fight dirty. They lie, we speak the truth. They weaponize Scripture by twisting it; we weaponize Scripture by unleashing it. Charlie Kirk was tender but not soft. We must always wield the truth with love, but the truth often hurts when it hits its mark. Our enemies will call this “unchristian” or “hypocritical.” We must stand firm, and be ready to to repent when we fail.
I could go on, but the point is this: at ECS we are trying to raise up exactly the sort of people who pose such a threat to the enemies of God that they must be dealt with. Very few will engage in such a public context as Kirk, but many will be as threatening to our enemies in their different spheres of influence.
While the celebratory response was surprising, it should not have been. Intellectually, we know that God’s enemies are our enemies, and though we are to love them, they want us dead. Still, when the intellectual reality takes on three dimensions and we see it, we are reminded that Christians are at war.
Since that is the case, training is pretty important! Your kids cannot escape the war; they can be well-trained to fight in it. And it’ll involve far more books and math facts and psalms than it will guns and knives and fists.
It takes eyes of faith to see what’s happening when your blessings also feature hard work.
Nowhere is this more evident than in parenting. One minute you’re changing diapers and coaching “Yes, Mama” on repeat; the next minute your head is spinning while that same baby receives a diploma. In the middle there’s a lot of mundane blessings…and some blessings that don’t feel like blessings at all. But what is the stuff of life, anyway? What takes them from diapers to diplomas, quickly or otherwise?
Two of the most harrowing experiences I’ve had in my life have come upon me suddenly when I thought I might have lost my son. Both turned out to be false alarms (and even a bit humorous in hindsight) but the feelings of the moment were true enough. And in those terrifying moments, I missed the little things that make life what it is. Life is a big mess of little things a lot more than it is filler around the big things.
Education is no different. Each book or test or drill is important in the moment, but in the end it’s but one proverbial drop of water over a pebble in a brook. And water is powerful stuff. Water can cut channels in granite if given enough time and volume. By the effect of the water and the friction of its neighbor rocks, a stone is divested of rough edges, being made smooth and useful. Pebbles and water shape one another. And still, though water flowing in a creek seems peaceful enough, it may be shaping mountains.
Likewise, it’s helpful to consider what’s actually happening when you send your kids to school.
They learn from books, but they also develop a worldview.
They learn to play on a team, but they also learn to live in fellowship.
They learn skills, but they also learn sturdiness.
They learn how to be good at things, but they also learn how to be bad at things without crumbling like a dry cookie.
Is it any wonder that it’s hard?
I’m praying for our teachers to have eyes of faith to be able to see all the good that is represented by all the hard we experience day by day. It is helpfully-orienting and gives us encouragement to keep going.
It’s my prayer for you all, too, as you start the school year. I’m praying that this would be a banner year for your family as you and your children take a great leap forward in your own faithfulness. And may the whole ECS community be used by God to effect this.
