Fingerprint Friday: A Child's Perspective

By Ginny (MAD21)

My daughters love to take off with my camera. It's great to live in the age of digital cameras that make it possible for them to take as many pictures as they want without worry of the cost of film and developing.

My family attended an outdoor college graduation last weekend. The weather was spectacular and we had the best "seats" in the grass next to the field. The girls could watch the events if they wanted or just run around and play. My youngest decided to take my camera and wander around and take pictures of things that interested her.

I love to see the pictures that the girls take. I am amazed at how many times they get some really good shots of things we would normally pass by.

Click to read more ...

One Word At A Time: Adventure

By Ginny (MAD21)

If I were to choose a few words to describe my family, one of them would surely be adventurous. We love to go on adventures. Yes, we have also chosen that word to describe an everyday occurrence in hopes that by changing a certain child's perspective about it might make them more motivated to participate, but really, we do love them. One of our most favorite ways to add adventure to a road trip is that we don't usually have a map or a time line.

We have two different kinds of trips we like to take. One has a specific location as our destination, the other is "just pick a direction."

Click to read more ...

Praying Prayerfulness For Our Children

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Ephesians 6:18, NIV)

I sometimes find myself complaining loudly to my children that they complain too much.  At other times, I've noticed that I argue with them about how much they argue.  I know this is ineffective and even hypocritical, but it's amazing how easily I fall into the same old patterns again and again.  Why?  Because Satan loves to see me stumble and fall flat on my face, and so he keeps setting the same traps and I keep falling into them.

The call to prayer in Ephesians 6:18 comes in the context of a passage on spiritual warfare, which in emphasized here by the call to "be alert."  1 Peter 5:7-8 has a very similar and even more sobering call: "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."  Again, we see a call to prayerfulness ("Cast all your anxiety on him") with a call to be alert because of the reality of spiritual warfare.

Click to read more ...

Praying To Have a Servant's Heart

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

Loving Others in a Age of Self-Indulgence

"...not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers,
but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man." (Ephesians 6:6-7)

Sometimes I get frustrated with how much my children complain.  At times, it seems like no matter what we are doing or have done, they will find some problem or shortcoming and will launch into complaining and whining.  Then, this morning, I woke up, healthy and surrounded by my family, and I got out of bed, irritated at my sore back and the fact that it was Monday morning.  I was blessed to wake up in a nice home, and I walked downstairs grumbling in my mind because the kitchen wasn't perfectly clean.  Where do my children get this self-pitying, self-indulgent whining?  I guess I don't have to go very far to find that answer.

The problem with self-pitying complaining is that it focuses all of our attention on ourselves and keeps us from looking at and serving the real needs of others.  It is pretty tough to love God and love others when my focus is so strongly pulled toward my own "problems."  Growing up in the 70's, I remember well the old children's television theme song- "The most important person in the whole wide world is you and you hardly even know you."

Click to read more ...

Praying For The Willingness And Ability To Work

Colossians 3:23, 24 reads, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Knowing the value and blessing of work can be a long road for many kids. Adam and Eve were given a garden by God and He told them to work. God gives in grace and abundance, but He calls us also to labor with Him. It’s a part of who He’s created us to be.

Working against that truth, however, is culture, advertising, entertainment, and more. These work overtime to tell our kids that there are ways around work and promote the idea and ideal of a ‘slacker’ generation.

Click to read more ...