A Month In

The job of being a school principal is a journey.  Mostly it is very interesting.  I am blessed to work with very talented and committed teachers who have the best intentions for their students.  Many times I've considered how fortunate I am to work in a place where Christian principles are valued and adhered to as the foundation for what we do.  Why is this so important for me in my situation?  It is because those principles are the glue that makes things work well.  I have often said to kids at Western Christian that God's laws are for our benefit and not, as so many have thought, to somehow constrict our lives.  A school without a Christian compass can be a place where there lacks the moral glue to hold the ship together.  Staff members committed to these Christian principles make things simply work together better.  Those principles guides our mission, our curriculum and also, our attitudes from day to day.  Is this to say that all things are perfect here?  No way.  We still live in an imperfect world.  We still have issues, but at least we overtly have the glue, Jesus Christ, that holds the ship together.  I'm thankful for that, and I pray that God will continue to bless us and keep us from stumbling.  I also ask that you pray for us, because I also believe that the Adversary wants to trip us up.  So pray for our students, their families, and our staff, that we may stay true to our calling and commitment to help students learn to serve the King.  We need you and that "cloud of witnesses" to continue cheering us on.  Thanks for cheering and we ask you to keep it up.

Thank You

I want to thank the entire Western Christian community for the many good wishes and prayers offered up on my behalf as I have begun this new venture as Western's principal.  So far it has been a good experience.  I have really enjoyed the challenge of it, and at times, even the busyness that goes with the job.  I have also truly appreciated our student body.  We have an excellent student body at Western.  When I hear about troubles ongoing at other schools, I am thankful that I work here, and I am glad that my son also attends school here.  We truly have an encouraging student body here at Western Christian.  I know this because of the experience of kids that tell me so.  Do we have issues sometimes?  Yes, and we deal with them as they occur.  But overall, we have truly nice, caring kids who honestly care for each other.  That's one reason why I chose I Thessalonians 5:11 as our theme verse for the year.  "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."  Our students already do this quite well.  In many ways, we as adults can learn from them.  As humans we all need encouragement as we live our our lives for Christ in this broken world.  We also want to strive to be positive encouragers to better reflect our love for Jesus, and as a result of this choice, to make God's world a better place in which to live.

So I encourage you, as the Western Christian community, to also make the choice to become positive encouragers in your daily lives.  Let's make the commitment to be positive examples for our students and vice versa.  By doing so in our daily lives, we let our light shine before others and glorify God.