Tag Archives: school

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How Do I Send My Kids to School on Monday?

I’ll be honest I was difficult sending my kids to school today. The events in South Florida are heartbreaking. There are no words to convey the pain so many parents feel today losing what is most precious in such horrific fashion. There are not words that make sense of what took place. There are no words that can be said that would help bring comfort. Our nation is overcome with a collective sense of grief. Any time a child dies it is hard to understand, digest or explain. When multiple children die it’s horrific.

The question I hear most parents saying and I find myself thinking. “How do I send my kids to school tomorrow?” My wife asked me this very question here is how I responded perhaps it will help another parent out there.

Here is why I am sent my kids to school today.

1. We as parents must create an environment where our kids can thrive and can become all that God has designed them to be. We can not, however, protect and shield our kids from everything. We have to demonstrate to our kids in any way that we can that ultimately we trust God more than anything. Christ is our cornerstone he is the reference point of our life. When life is good He is that reference point when life is painful He is our source He is our life. Our hope as a parent can never lie wholly in our ability to keep our kids from harm, our hope has to be ultimately in Jesus alone.

2. See Christ as more valuable than anything else. – Paul says in Philippians “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” He understood something we so often forget. If Jesus is truly most valuable to us if we lose everything in life we are ok because we have Jesus. If we die we win in death because we get Jesus.

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So God made a Farmer by Paul Harvey.

Easily the best commercial of the Super Bowl. I hope the GoDaddy people were taking notes. Because some model making out with a nerd has nothing on this commercial. Bravo RAM you made me want to buy a truck.


 

Here is the full transcript of the ad:

“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the field, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.” So God made a farmer.

God said, “I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say,’Maybe next year,’ I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from an ash tree, shoe a horse with hunk of car tire, who can make a harness out hay wire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. Who, during planting time and harvest season will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday noon and then, paining from tractor back, put in another 72 hours.” So God made the farmer.

God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales, yet gentle enough to yean lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-comb pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the leg of a meadowlark.”

It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, and brake, and disk, and plow, and plant, and tie the fleece and strain the milk, . Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his son says that he wants to spend his life doing what Dad does. “So God made a farmer.””

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Top 10 blog posts of 2012

the-gospel1

#1.  4 Ways to clarify the gospel when communicating to kids.

#2.  Free Bible Lessons: Proverbs “The Book of Wisdom”

#3.  What the Gospeldemands of parents

#4. Why volunteers don’t attend your meetings.

#5. 10 Best iPad Apps for kids

#6. Helping kidslove the bible: Stay one bible ahead

#7. 4 reasons NOT to Homeschool your kids.

#8. Why my kids never asked Jesus into their hearts.

#9. How do I send my kids to school on monday?

#10.  Free Easter Curriculum: God To The Rescue


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Everything that can be invented has been invented

Well I’m not sure that is true. I think lots more things will be invented. I would argue that much of what we now call invention is more innovation that invention. As we head into the future I strongly believe that invention will slow down and innovation will increase. As a kid we grew up hearing stories of great inventors like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Our kids will grow up hearing of great innovators like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.

I have this long standing belief that our school systems (not referring to teachers here but rather the system as a whole) are built to teach our kids how to be good factory workers. Our educational system is teaching our kids to be good line workers, inventors, and how to work with things that we know to be true. Our school system and most of us being a product of that system still believe that there is only one right way to do anything.

What should we as parents be teaching our kids? What should the school system be teaching our kids? Innovation. In school system and even at home we train our kids to think concrete thoughts which is good but kids also need to think outside the box. We give them to many situations where there is only one right answer. The more we teach our kids to look at every problem in light of the possible solutions we will be training them to be innovators.

I asked my oldest boy to move a pile of leaves and told him he could take them to the leaf pile one handful at a time or he could use the tools available to him. After much debate about the usefulness of each tool we settled on a trash bag we could fill and take only one trip to the leaf pile. I helped him see the importance of as Andy Stanley says “going further faster.”

Don’t get me wrong. I understand that inventions are important and will still take place. I just believe that going forward those who will shape culture will be innovators not inventors. I want my kids to be innovators. Innovators are leaders, innovators make change, innovators help to fix the brokenness of our world one innovation at a time.

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4 reasons I WOULD send my kid to Christian School

Here are my reasons to send your kids to Christian School

1. Other Godly examples – One of the things I remember best from my years in Christian School was the teachers that taught me. Most Christian schools don’t pay their teachers a lot as a result the people who do teach are very passionate about what they do and the passion reaches the kids. I remember many of the Godly teachers that influenced my life. That is priceless to see another adult telling you the same thing your parents are is invaluable.

2. Christian Perspective – History from the view point of our christian faith is never going to be taught in a public school setting. I know that some of the curriculum Public schools choice is less than desirable from a faith perspective. Sending your kids to a school where they learn that History is “His story” (what a good christian school child I am, I still remember History is “His Story”). Having that base of knowledge is so important especially in the PC world we now live in. Truth is truth it’s not always pretty but if we try to change history to sound more sanitary we will never learn from it.

3. Smaller Pond – In Christian school I was a pretty good basketball player in public school I was number 235 and was you guessed it cut the second week of practice. The reality is that most kids will not play sports outside of High school. Going to a christian school your son or daughter with average talent will benefit from the ability to take part in team sports. Some kids need a smaller environment for their star to shine. I went to Christian school of 150 and a public school of 3,000 so I saw this whole principle play out first hand.

4. Lots of kids who believe the same thing – I agree with Reggie Joiner. Every kid needs another kid who believes the same thing they believe. I believe every Christian kid’s best friend should also be a Christ follower and as much as I want my kids to be friends with kids who haven’t crossed the line of faith I want their best friends to be Christ followers. Every kid need another kid, they can call, tweet or text “Am I crazy for….” and I will know that the answer will be based out of God’s word and not out of the random pile of teenage emotion. Having your kids in a Christian environment can be unrealistic but it could also be life giving it’s up to you.