Routines, Habits, and Love???????

The beginning of week two in a school year marks that we have actually arrived, and that the school year is now definitely in motion.  This week in my home, there have been many different indications of this as the summer season winds down, and many other seasons wind up.  Sports, arts and music lessons, church programs, community programs all are gearing up and our calendars begin to fill with meetings, practices, and engagements.  It can leave one feeling overwhelmed at family commitments.  Good things can become a drain on us and on our families if we are not careful.

These next few weeks are critical to set good family habits, and to ensure that your kids adopt good routines for school work, home chores, church functions, and even sleep.  Providing a set time each day that works for your family, and for your child (everyone learns differently - including time of day) will develop a routine that they can count on and grow to appreciate as they will be able to accomplish the work that they need to do.  Even if they don't have homework, requiring that they spend some time reading or reviewing for 10-15 minutes will protect that time for when they do.

The following video outlines a few ways (geared for grade 3-5 parents) to navigate the homework 'battle' at home... http://goo.gl/IGTx9s

Interestingly, James K.A. Smith (a professor at Calvin College) writes about the

'Power of Habit and the Gift of Practices' in relation to our Christian walk in the book: "Imagining the Kingdom".  Practicing love in a deliberate way each day is an important part of our own discipleship.  God made us creatures of habit.  Through the year we will be looking for ways to exercise this habit of Christian Love... to plug in to God's power, and to live as children of light.  

Living as Children of Light

Welcome to 2015-16!! The new year is here!

Today, in our opening assembly, we learned how dark it can get. With all of the windows blocked, all the lights off, we were in complete darkness. Paul writes to the Ephesians that they were once darkness....(Ephesians 5:8) It was a bit unsettling for most of us, until we saw the light from a small personal workspace lamp. That lamp was enough light for all of us to see one another. That's the funny thing about darkness. You can't delete it. But the small light in the centre of the room was enough to scare the darkness into the far corners of the room.

Try as it might, though, that lamp was not able to light on it's own. It needed to plug in to a power source. If it chose to wander around, it would have become unplugged and not been able to shine. "If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5) Remaining connected and plugged in to God is important.... but what about shining that light?

We next saw what happened when we try to hoard that light and keep it to ourselves, and perhaps save it. Covering our light just dims the whole room and we plunge into darkness again. At Covenant, we want to shine in our own community, but we also want to look for ways to live as children of light in our town, our region, our province, country, and the world.

We'll be looking out for 'shining lights'. What has someone done to live as a child of light, plugged in to God? Share those together so that we can continue to encourage one another this year.

Our theme song for the year is "Children of Light" by Kristian Stanfill. You can listen/view the lyrics at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNZdzmslgbs 

2015-16, here we come!

August is ticking away, and a blissfully long summer is coming to an end.  The summer has not been a quiet one at the school with new windows, a few new floors, a great new playground, new paint, and the usual fury of cleaning, repairing, and 'spiffing up' in preparation for 2015-16.  We are in need a few volunteers to pull together the final items before September.  If you are able to help with any of these (see the list at the end of this letter), we'd appreciate the extra needed hands to complete our work!!

The school year's theme will be "Plugging in to God's Power".  Our potential can never be met by trying to apply our own power, but only by plugging in to God  as Power source can we become what He intends.  Our theme verses will be John 15:5.  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." and Ephesians 5:8 "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light."

We all have our own ways of shining God's light; each of our created as unique 'minds'.

• How can we plug in?  In what ways do each of us connect to God and renew our strength? How do we encourage one another in this?

• What happens when we unplug and try to run on our own power and 'steam'?

• When we plug in as a community of learners, parents, supporters, what light do we emit?  What does a community of light do?  Are their blinders between our light and the community?

the end of a story....

Here we are at the last week of school!  I hear often around the school:  "Wow, how did that happen?"  While the day-to-day rhythm can sometimes feel like a long time, in hindsight it seems to be a whirlwind.  It seems like not that long ago that the kids piled off of the buses for their first day - fresh clothes and school supplies, excitement to be back, hesitance at what this school year would bring....

At our opening assembly, we wondered together what this year's story would be.  Throughout the year, we have reminded one another that we are a part of God's story.  No matter what, he is the author and Lord of our lives, and we can trust Him because He made us and we are His.  Together, we have accepted the work that He had planned for us.  That hasn't always been easy work, but it has been good work.  Please join us again this Friday for our closing chapel when we close off this year's story and again praise God for His faithfulness.

Along with thankfulness to God, we also must say thank you to the many, many people who make Covenant the place it is and allow us to do the many things we do!!  Parents, especially, take time to step up and help where needed in so many ways.  Thank you to the office volunteers, bus drivers, our custodian, Educational Assistants, librarian, coop students, classroom volunteers, event planners, TRIP volunteers, and those serving at community events.  Your direct involvement in the lives of the students, supporters, and visitors to the school is the hands and feet of Christ in our community.  To those of you on committees or working behind the scenes, we thank you as well!  Often without thanks, you continue to give in ways that we don't immediately see, but we do experience in a well run school!  We are blessed and strengthened by your giving!

As you head into the summer, continue to take hold of God's story and remain rooted in God's promises.  He has known us since before we were born, and continues to have good works for us to do!  We will see you again, Lord willing, on Tuesday, September the 8th!!

On the road..

It's the time of year where many of our classes head out on the road to either present what they have learned, or to experience what they've learned in a new way.  Trips present so many unique opportunities and in the lives of students are often the most memorable experiences of school.  Not only do they get up close and personal with the learning material, but they get to solidify and strengthen class friendships and bonds in a new way.  This kind of learning has given many educators over the years pause to think "Maybe we should do education differently..."  How can we harness these excellent learning experiences more frequently?

As we continually consider ways to better teach and learn, we find often that we are striving to recover relationships:  Relationship with God, one another, the world - a yearning for what we enjoyed before the Fall.....

As we walk along - experience deeply God's handiwork, struggle with how our world is broken, long for and share hope in redemption and grace... as we take hold of God's story, our relationships can be reclaimed  just as Christ claimed us as his own.

As we travel, learn, and experience, pray that our relationship with God, others, and the world may be rekindled and strengthened.

Drops in a Bucket

At Covenant, we are spending the day with a family that is visiting us from Guatemala.  The Doppenberg family moved to Guatemala 6 years ago from Beamsville to answer God's call to help there.   After a few short term trips to help out, they saw that the need in Guatemala was prevalent, but also opportunities for them to begin to help.

Their story was told to us through the lens of Dave Tebbutt, a local film-maker who created the documentary 'Drops in a Bucket' which they shared with us (JKCS came up to watch with us!!).  Their story of developing long term relationships, meeting the greatest needs, sustaining the support they've put in place has touched us in a HUGE way. The question of malnutrition, hunger, disease, medical needs seem so daunting from our corner of Ontario.  Geoff closes the video, though, by saying: "When we first started, we thought 'It's impossible, .... it's too big a task..... But now, I have extreme hope and I believe it can happen in our lifetime...."  How?  God is using them as His vessels.  "We aren't doing any of this.  God is simply using us and is doing amazing things."

What can one person do?  One small family from the Niagara Penninsula?  We are all drops in a bucket.  But together, many drops will fill the buckets of others worldwide.  Thank you, Geoff, Rita, Gabe, and Luke, for spending the day with us!!!  May God bless you as you continue to work with the people in Guatemala, and may your actions speak loudly into our lives and all those you touch to have the courage not only to know God's story, but to Take Hold of it!!!

The full-length documentary "Drops in a Bucket" has another limited showing on June 15 at the Mandeville Theatre in St. Catharines.  The film trailer is available at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aWSESeQoWY

Caring for their Community

One of our support organizations picked up the news of the Peach Bud Run in support of the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital Foundation last week.  They simply observed:  

"Students at Covenant Christian School caring for their community."

It was delightful to hear the cheers throughout the school when we announced to the students that they had together raised over $8000!  Wow.  God is capable of so much.  Our goal was to break $5000....  As we look over how these donations came in - many of them $5, $5, $5.... from neighbours, friends, people willing to support in small ways.  Many, many small acts of kindness add up like drops in a bucket.  And so it is in community.  Small works of kindness practiced minute by minute add up to days, weeks, months, years.  They form practice, habit, character, and identity.

In the lives of our students, this is one more communal act of kindness that will be swallowed up in a lifetime of service.  Was this great thing 'normal'?   I pray that it will become that.  As God continues to work through this school community in the lives of our students, we commit them to Him as he shapes them for a multitude of small things which will add up to His mighty work of redemption through His people.  Caring for our community is just one way we are Taking Hold of God's Story.