A Dose of Winter January 30, 2012

The sun is shining brilliantly and the way the snow reflects the light warms the heart.  The large flakes of snow that gracefully fell yesterday cover the ground and it puts a bright white blanket on the damp and soggy ground.  It is a dose of winter; it is a reprieve from the dark, grey days that have become so prevalent these days.  We have not had many days like this during our current season.  It reminds me of a number of truths that are relevant to our community and our students.  It first reminds me of God’s forgiveness, being washed whiter than snow.  It is a good reminder that we are a community of grace and how we interact with each other.  Secondly, as the snow reflects the sun shine outside we are called to reflect the image of Christ to the world.  We are made in His image and some of our characteristics testify to that fact and as Christians we are called to be like shining stars in the universe. It brings me to the third truth of which I was reminded.  This sunny day brings a vivid light and a stark contrast to the dull grey days we’ve experienced numerous times this winter.   We are called as children of the light to shine in the darkness.  As in Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”  I encourage you to talk to people you know who could be a part of this community of grace shining like lights in the darkness as we reflect the image of God’s son, Jesus Christ. 

Celebration and Thanksgiving

How do we celebrate 50 years of God's grace to Dundas Calvin Christian School? Well, there is a weekend set aside, May 26-27, for the school community to give testimony to God for His faithfulness to DCCS for the past 50 years and to ask His Spirit for guidance for the next 50 years and beyond. At the beginning of the school year we read over Psalm 100, a psalm of thanksgiving, because our theme verse for the year is found in verse five. “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” The verse is fitting not only for speaking to the generational faithfulness that is evident at the school but it also sheds light on a proper way to celebrate. As stated, it is a psalm of thanksgiving. Grateful adoration is the only response; it is the only way to celebrate His goodness, His love and His faithfulness. So in this fiftieth year we acknowledge that we worship and praise God with happy hearts full of thanksgiving. Please join us in giving thanks to God for this school and His faithfulness for the past fifty years. Keep this school's future in your prayers as we continually seek to serve the Lord. May others see this school and its graduates and say the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.            ~ Mr. Bouwers

A Snapshot of Community - January 16, 2012

Yesterday I had the privilege of being invited by a family to come and be a member of the cloud of witnesses that agreed to support both the parents and their child as they raise him in the fear of the Lord. In one of the vows they expressed that with a reliance on the Holy Spirit and with the help of the Christian community, they would do all in their power to instruct these children in the Christian faith and to lead them into the life of Christian discipleship. As the body of Christ we agreed to receive them in love, pray for them, help instruct them in the faith, and encourage and sustain them in the fellowship of believers.  After the service there was a light luncheon. The din of many conversations filled the room as the time of fellowship overtook the space. It was not only a social time; it was also a sacred space. Following the luncheon a celebratory cake was brought out and the family stood behind it for pictures. I happened to be sitting with a few other gentlemen and we jokingly decided that the four of us should get ourselves into the pictures. After many pictures had already been taken, the four of us ended up behind the couple and their children.  We had a bit of a chuckle and so did they. It was while I was there, standing behind them with the three others, that it struck me how appropriate it was. In that picture was a family, supported by two members of their congregation as well as the principals from the Christian grade school and the Christian high school. It shows the commitment of the family to do all in their power to instruct their children in the Christian faith and the commitment from the Christian community to support them. It represented three major influences coming together to support that child: the family, the church, and the school. I wanted to share that moment as it has, once again, a wonderful reminder of how the community of Christ works together. We take our role in instructing the children in the way of the Lord seriously and enjoy our partnerships with families and the churches.  ~ Mr. Bouwers

Resolutions and Freedom January 9th, 2012

The start of a new calendar year usually brings a host of resolutions.  New Year’s resolutions are varied and can include the serious, the frivolous, and anything in between.  Losing weight, kicking a bad habit, starting a new trend or reinforcing varied disciplines or principles are common themes in regards to the resolutions we tie to the New Year.  Some see resolutions as goals they hope to attain in the coming year while others resolve to change some aspect of their character or a habit that they have picked up.  And still others see no point at coming up with a resolution just because it is a new year.  A resolution, a goal or taking up a discipline comes down to expanding our freedom.  When we make a commitment to change through the power of the Holy Spirit we give up the freedom to make perpetual self-serving choices.  The development of disciplines in our lives, resolving to give up serving ourselves, leads to a greater freedom in the end.  It may not be a school resolution but we do want our students to see that by developing disciplines and practices they will be better equipped to serve as a faithful presence in this world as they put the necessary time and effort into developing the gifts God has given them.

Even More - December 19th, 2011

Writing out Christmas cards is not my favourite thing to do. It is not that I am some grumpy curmudgeon who does not want to put the time and effort into spreading the joy of Christmas. It is due to the fact that I don’t always know what to write; I want to send a Christmas blessing and bring to light the Good News and do all of that in a line or two. As I was contemplating what to write out I was captivated by the phrase

“Even More”. It could strike you as odd that in a season that is often dominated by extravagance that I would want to bless you with even more. That being said, as you celebrate Christmas and enter the new year may you be blessed with “Even More”. May you be struck, even more, by the humanity of Christ to

deepen your personal connection to Him. May you be overwhelmed, even more, by His Divinity to intensify your admiration and awe of your Maker. May you realize, even more, His engulfing Love. May you be transformed, even more, by the Holy Spirit to reflect the image of Christ Jesus. May we be committed,

even more, to raising and educating our children in the fear of the Lord. May we be convicted, even more,

to know and show the love of Jesus to a broken and lost world. In all these things God is faithful and keeps His promises; it is my prayer that we may be even more faithful in our response of gratitude to His lavish love for us all. As we have been blessed let us also then be a blessing, even more.

Words, Words, Words

I am neither a poet nor an author of fiction.  I don’t write biographies or participate in public speaking engagements on the weekends.  All things considered, it could be said that I do not exclusively use God’s gift of language within the context of my calling. What could be said is that I extensively use His gift of language every day.  It is not only part of my “job” it is part of my life.  I know I am responsible for how I use or abuse this wonderful gift.  We are called to develop the gifts God has placed within us and in His creation.  When we consider the words that we speak we must take note of their powerful impact and their importance.  The Bible recognizes the power of words.  Creation was spoken into existence, Jesus was referred to as the Word, and it is God’s Word that still speaks to us today.  With our use of language we always have choices: life giving or life breaking, edifying or demolishing, building up or tearing down, blessing or cursing, vulgar or wholesome etc.  At school we will be discussing with some of our students how the words that come out of our mouths are a reflection of what is in our hearts.  I would encourage you to join us in this conversation at home.  The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in our actions as well as our words.  Let us keep praying for the Spirit to transform us so that we will honour God in all that we do, in all that we say, and all that we think.  ~Mr. Bouwers

The Kitchen Table

7:10 a.m., that was the time my family would congregate for breakfast.  Eating around the table together was part of our family tradition and, as is turns out, a healthy tradition at that.  Recent studies have shown that families who sit down for meals together are healthier, happier and better adjusted.  Time magazine, in the article “The Magic of the Family Meal”, outlines numerous benefits for the children of the families who share meals together.  Indeed, there is nothing “Magic” about it.  Families are part of the structure God places in this world.  God works through families and households; he always has and always will.  “Every good and perfect gift from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  (James 1:17)  The family unit is one of the good gifts from God.  Unfortunately, this gift has been corrupted to some degree by sin and there are situations of brokenness where we long for restoration and healing.  Even though that is the case, when things are going well in the family structure I believe we get a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.  This month the students in grades 5-8 will be discussing God’s plan for marriage, the changes they will experience in the next few years, and a faithful response to the good gift God has entrusted to them, their bodies.  Addressing these themes regarding “Family Life” may present opportunities around the kitchen table to discuss the topics dealt with in class.  God will continue to work powerfully through families for generations to come as he does not change like shifting shadows.  God’s blessings to you and your families.  ~ Mr. Bouwers

Growing in Community - November 28, 2011

Last week was an excellent opportunity as a school to grow in community.  The membership meeting, held last Monday, included a number of reports from various committees and it was great to hear what is going on at various levels to support the education here at Calvin Christian School in Dundas.  One of the heart-warming moments was when each member of the Board of Directors took the time to introduce him/herself.  As they did this they also took the opportunity to share what it is that they love about DCCS.  What an excellent example it was for the entire school community!  They took the opportunity to be ambassadors for His school, in His Kingdom. I encourage you to come out to the next meeting and hear of all the wonderful things happening in this school for His names sake.  We also had the privilege of discussing Christian education and the progress of our learners during the annual Learning Dialogues.  I was happy to see how well this was attended by parents in the community.  It demonstrates how involved and connected the parents are in the education of their child(ren).  The partnership of home and school was manifested in each of the conversations that occurred and in the conversations that followed.  Thank you again for your intentional efforts at building community here at the school and around the kitchen tables.  Let us keep working together to educate the next generation in the fear of the Lord. ~ Mr. Bouwers

Shaping Culture November 21, 2011

Not too long ago the teachers gathered at the annual OCSTA convention and were inspired by the key note speaker Andy Crouch.  He was an engaging speaker with a personable nature and musical gifts that added a unique flavour to his educational address.  Each of the aforementioned attributes would have made it an easy lecture to sit through but what made it a dynamic discourse was the combination of the gifts he has with a powerful message for educators.  He challenged the members of OCSTA (now Edifide) to establish culture-forming practices in education.  I will avoid a detailed account of his analysis but I would like to outline what he presented as the posture we should take in regards to culture.  Too often, he argued, we take a passive and reactive approach to culture.  We respond and react to what is happening in our culture when it is clear that God calls us to form culture.  In the vision statement of this school we state a desire to see God’s children actively reforming His world.  This falls in line with Crouch’s call for Christians to spread the good news by contributing to culture to initiate change. Christians should engage in cultivating, contributing, and creating culture to impact the lives of others around us.   As stated in our mission statement, we desire to develop the gifts of God’s children to prepare them for Christian service.  Each child, as an image-bearer of God, is uniquely gifted for service in God’s kingdom.  We have a passion for the students to receive an education to develop their gifts to the best of their ability so that they, in turn, will be equipped to better serve the Lord and advance His Kingdom.  Thank you for joining and supporting us in our commitment to the mission of the school. ~ Mr. Bouwers

The Faces of the Bazaar - November 14, 2011

I was able to attend my first DCCS Bazaar this weekend. What an awesome event! There was much to see and do throughout the day and evening and there were smiles on many different faces.  It is the many different faces that stirred in me an extended appreciation for this community.  It was a generational mosaic that came together for the cause of Christian Education on Saturday.  Since God established His covenant with Abraham he has chosen to work through families and the generations that followed.  Even now, God continues to work through this generational faithfulness in places like Calvin Christian School in Dundas.  Praise God for His faithfulness exhibited in each of the smiling faces seen in His school this weekend.  Those smiling faces belonged to at least four generations and to school families of various backgrounds.  We could not serve the students of DCCS without multigenerational support and that of all of our school families. That fact was evident at the Bazaar.  The funds we raise aid us in our goal of providing Christian education to enable our students to be active in transforming His world not only for today but for the many years to come. ~ Mr. Bouwers