June 9th, 2014 Identity Crisis?

I was walking through the halls today, checking on the exterior doors and peeking into classrooms.  The walls of our hallways speak.  They speak by echoing the children and by what is displayed on the walls.  Today in particular I felt like I was getting mixed messages.  With the way the seasons have presented themselves this year it was just recently that this bulletin board was posted.  It was not that long ago indeed.  I feel we just entered into the spring season.

Right beside the spring bulletin board are wonderful pieces of art done by the grade two class and the title gives us a slightly different perspective as it announces that the students are Eager, Energized, Excited and Enthused for Summer.  I feel that summer is around the corner even though we just started spring.  Then I found another piece on the wall to add to the current identity crisis. 

There, on the wall amongst the pieces of art, down in the corner was just one more piece that gives us a clear indication of what is happening on the other side of these walls. I had to enlarge this piece just to make sure it was seen.  We are progressing through the year but the students are still hard at work.  They continue to have their gifts developed as we close out another school year providing quality, Christ-centered education.  As parents, we hope and pray that the work the students do will deepen their understanding of God’s world and instil a sense of awe and wonder that will inspire them to live lives that are eager, energized, excited and enthused to serve in God’s Kingdom and live for him. ~ Mr. Bouwers 

June 2, 2014 Curriculum, Community, and Justice

This community values the activities our students do outside of the four walls of the classroom especially if it has a community impact or outreach focus.  Learning can become a richer, more authentic experience if we make an intentional effort to marry our heart for Christian service with our curricular expectations.  I think it is important to find ways to connect to our community and provide a real world context for some of the learning that occurs at the school.  Even more so, finding ways in which our learning can also shape the community around us.  It is good to marry some biblical themes of community building and justice seeking to the curriculum to provide a solid Christian perspective and ensure that it is Christ centered.  Tim Keller in his book “Generous Justice” reminds us that the Bible is the fundamental source for promoting justice and excising compassion for those who are differently blessed.  A life of justice is empowered by an experience of grace.  We experience God’s grace through the good gifts he provides and, ultimately, through the gift of life and salvation and purpose found in Jesus Christ our Lord.  He states, “A lack of generosity refuses to acknowledge that your assets are not really yours, but God’s.”  We desire for our students to not only experience His grace but respond with a generous, gracious justice. Please continue to pray for our students and staff as we finish the year strong and strive to prepare our students for lives of Christian service in personal response to His grace and a reflection of their love for Jesus.  ~ Mr. Bouwers 

May 26th, 2014 God's Providence

This spring and upcoming summer season bring with it a provincial election.  It is not my prerogative to insist you vote for one party over another as I am sure each eligible voter in our community will prayerfully consider the candidates and then exercise their civic duty.  The state of our own government and the uncertainty of the outcome of the upcoming election can leave some individuals wary of who will be in charge.  As valid as some of those concerns may be, I think the focus may be a bit narrow.  A broader view does let us know who is in charge and who holds all things together.  It is God’s providence, His expression of divine care and guidance, that sustains us.  As we see in Acts 14, the Living God made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.  In the past, He let all nations go their own way.  Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.  Let us count on the Lord for His provision and be faithful in how we steward His gifts of time, talents, and resources for His glory.   ~ Mr. Bouwers 

May 20, 2014 Springfest Wrap Up

What a wonderful long weekend.  It is amazing to see this community in action.  I really enjoyed the time I spent at Springfest this weekend promoting the school.  It was a great time of fellowship and community building.  I am always encouraged by the amount of goodwill that day and I am impressed by the amount of goodwill extended to the broader community of Dundas on that day.  The arena was packed by 7:30 am and continued throughout the day.  We had two local politicians drop by and enjoy the festivities as well as the KX 94.7 event cruiser.  It was also a busy day and it takes an entire community to prepare for and execute a community event off site.  Thank you again to all of the organizers, the volunteers and the people who extended goodwill through donations.  It was a grand community building event and we pray that it reflected the community of Christ in which we belong.   As it takes a community to run Springfest we also need volunteers to help us on Track and Field day.  You've seen the plea for help for a number of weeks.  I urge you, one last time, to see if you are available to help this Friday for our Track and Field day.  We need our community, once again, to make this day a success for everyone. To God be the glory

May 12, 2014 Rocks in the Shoe

The other day I had a rock in my shoe. I noticed it and promptly took off my shoe and dumped it out. Then a few days later I had a smaller rock in my shoe. You know what happens when you leave a rock in your shoe. This time I left it in there and I wasn’t long before my foot was sore. If I would’ve left the rock there, I would have ended up with a blister which could pop and then could have developed an infection and if left untreated could lead to serious complications. You see, little rocks in our shoe, if left unattended, could cause much pain later on. Sometimes there are things in our lives that are like little rocks. If we don’t pay attention to them or if we don’t root them out, they may cause more pain later. You could liken it to a foothold. If you allow a foothold, there is a place for an attack to be launched. In our lives, in looking at our character, we need to make sure that we don’t allow little rocks to stay or footholds to form. We do this at school with our students and we do this at home with our children.  We want to make sure we address some small things when they first arrive so they don’t become bigger issues. We must work together as a community for the health of our children. We raise them together and seek to help each other empty our shoes of rocks and scour the landscape for footholds. 

May 5th, 2014 MAY!

Well, it is May.  The greening grass is coming along nicely and my ears are greeted each morning by a feathered choir.  The sun beams are a bit stronger and the earth’s skin is warmed and dried.  As long as this winter has been, I think it is almost safe to say that spring has sprung.  We may get some frost yet but the snow, I hope, is now behind us.  Spring kicks off a season of activity at the school.  It started with our membership meeting last week where we elected Board members and changed the constitution to now include 4 year terms.  We have concluded our hiring for the upcoming year and we are excited to move forward with a few new faces and a raft of familiar ones.  We are excited to welcome Barb Rourda, Irene Janssen and Mary Jane Tigchelaar to our staff.  You can read more about their positions in the other sections of the post.   In the weeks to come we can excitedly look forward to the Tri-School Spelling Bee, JK Registration, Track and Field Day, and on the horizon we have the month of June.  We are so thankful for God’s good gift of spring and the busyness of this season as well. 

April 28th, 2014 Living Legacies

Last week we held our annual Grandparents’ and Grand-friends day.  We were tremendously blessed by the attendance of our seasoned visitors.  As I was standing in front of the grandparents and scanning the crowd I was struck by the representation of our heritage of faith.  I have said it before but the multigenerational nature of the event expresses an established foundation of faith and an visual support for Christian education.  The students were abuzz with excitement and the grandparents did not fail to disappoint as their presence brought great joy.  We were extremely blessed that day to host the grandparents and we hope and pray that they were blessed as well.  Grandparents can be important figures in the lives of our students.  I am reminded of a quote from Jimmy Carter, “We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.”

A recent study has called for our youth to connect with authentic faith and grandparents should be invited into that space.  Our students are bombarded by individualism but they were created for  and long for community.  Let them hear words of wisdom and encouragement from those who have gone before them.  They want to connect their faith to their grandparents’ life stories.  Thank you grandparents for being….,well for being grandparents.

April 22nd, 2014 Christian Education Week

Welcome to our Christian Education celebration week.  This week we have the distinct privilege of celebrating the fact that we are able to freely educate in the name of Jesus.  There will be a number of activities this week that will help raise funds for EduDeo.  EduDeo is a Canadian Christian organization serving children in developing countries with quality education rooted in a Biblical worldview to transform lives.  This same basis drives the mission and vision of our school as well.  We provide a quality education rooted in a biblical worldview and it is up to our community to own and promote this vision.   We are tasked, as a community, to carry forward the transforming work of the Spirit by bringing the gospel to light in all areas.  This is not only the subject areas we teach but also into the homes, the churches and the broader community.  Let us take hold of the transformative vision so the lives of our students can be made new and they can live as a faithful presence in our society. ~Mr. Bouwers 

April 14th, 2014 A Faithful Presence in the World

 It seems to me that the weather has been a continual focus of mine as the days and weeks march into spring.  This weekend we’ve seen the sun warm the earth and bring about a few more signs of spring.  Then we look to the forecast and see that light snow is expected on Tuesday.  This confused identity of spring can be exhausting, a hint of spring and a small dose of winter and a glimpse of summer in between.  It makes it difficult to plan ahead.  The season is unpredictable and can lay ruin to our plans,  it way lays impending arrangements.  Early in the first chapter of James, the author speaks of the double minded man and how he too is unpredictable and unstable in his ways.  The instability in the weather reminds me of this inconsistency that can creep into our lives and our faith.  Later on in the first chapter we are given an anchor point, the unwavering nature of our gracious God.  We are called to reflect and embody the evidence of God’s new creation.  I pray that our staff, our community and our students will be able to provide a steady witness as a faithful presence in the world.  I pray we may be first fruits of His new creation and that we may bring moments of life, hope and the resurrection to those around us.

~ Mr. Bouwers 

April 7th, 2014 April Showers

Sprinkled in the forecast for the coming week or two are weather reports of rain.  This coincides with the coming of spring weather and the common idiom, “April showers bring May flowers.”  There is a latent hope built into this phrase.  The April showers and some of the dreary, gray days of spring can be endured and seen as fruitful in light of the promise of May flowers.  Easter brings about the season of Lent, a season of reflection and contemplation.  Through the Lenten season we look ahead to the promise of fulfillment embodied in the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ.  With spring, life begins anew and so it is with Easter.  The word that continually comes to mind throughout the season is hope. The parallels between the Easter story and the seasonal unfolding of spring are inspiringly numerous.  This great hope is not a distant hope.  This hope breaks into our tainted existence and tasks us, as followers of Christ, to also bring the light of the world to bear upon the world, our communities, and our families.  We are called to bring renewal and rebirth to places that are tarnished and out of sorts.  I pray that we will continually seek to incorporate our preparation of the students for a life of Christian service with opportunities in the community to use and develop their God- given gifts.  I think these are markers of quality, Christian education.   ~ Mr. Bouwers