Fast Forward 6 Years

Six years ago, I posted 4 blogs within the month of April. Then, life happened…

Today, I am thankful to share that I have the privilege of meeting with every new student and family upon their first visit to The Eagle Foundation Learning Center. Having them come in, take a tour, and hear our story is the initial step in building a relationship of trust. Families get to know us (and we them), and they get to process who we are and together engage with what we offer without pressure.

The Learning Center is located at 411 N. Murphy St. in El Dorado, Arkansas. My sisters and I affectionately call it “four-eleven” as it was formerly our family home.

Our grandparents built it and later gifted it to our parents after they married. My mother’s wish was for the house to continue to be a gift, so we donated it to The Eagle Foundation and made every room a classroom. Now, it is a gift to many families as it was to mine. Our story now includes the stories of others.

Not in a MILLION years would I have envisioned my life and work as it is today. In September, we will celebrate 4 years of operation. The experience has been hard and lonely and wonderful and full at the same time. Through it all, I have become keenly aware of two things.

One, our stories are important. When we slow down enough to really see and listen to each other, we gain insight, perspective, and understanding. This is what begins to happen from an educational standpoint when I meet a student and his or her family, and it’s what continues to occur as our teaching mentors work with students over time. The personal attunement combined with knowledge of what a student needs and the ability to teach the way his or her brain learns, paves a path for growth. It’s not rocket science, and it’s not a complicated process burdened by rules and regulations. It’s just common sense based on how we are designed.

Two, the value of every soul and our need to be known and understood rests in the heart and divine fellowship of the Triune God. There is no other context for our lives because there is no other relationship of enduring and eternal reason. Being known and being love has always been and will always be central to who He is. Because of Jesus, God’s story has become our story. His gift to us of Himself, the earth, and all creation is for true Life and unending growth. Though His Kingdom is here and powerful, it has not fully arrived. Where we are limited, His insight and understanding is complete and without error. He sees and hears with full perspective, and He is solely attuned to each one of us. Every need we have can be brought to Him with confidence and safety because He is our Father. He knows what we need and how our brains work. He is good without any darkness at all and can be trusted completely.

Let's Talk About Education

For the first time in our lives, Phil and I, as parents, are experiencing the milestone of a college freshman.  Our daughter, Olivia, was born 18 years ago to parents who had no idea how much their firstborn child would change their lives.

I don’t know what it is about a young child.  All of the possibilities on earth and all the hope of heaven seems to be in their eyes and sweet faces.  They are just simply amazing – every one of them – and we were hopelessly in love with the one given to us.

I can still remember the anxiety and pressure we felt when it came time to choose a school where Olivia would attend kindergarten.  As we were touring one of the several schools on our list, a friend said something to me that was pivotal in our decision.  She looked me straight in the face and said with deep conviction and passion, “You know, there is absolutely nothing more important in a child’s life than an education.” 

We hadn’t thought about private school until that moment when I was struck with the fact that Phil and I needed help to raise our children in addition to the network of support we had through our family, friends, and church family.  Because education includes a worldview and because a person’s worldview is shaped in the first 13 years of life, we added West Side Christian School to our tour list, decided to go that route, and then took it one year at a time.

Phil and I knew from our own experiences that spiritual formation is about knowing who we are, and that doesn’t occur by chance. Could we have achieved our goals for Olivia in a different school?  Of course.  Many families who love God raise their children in public and homeschool settings with success.  Private school is not the answer.  Christ is the answer.  And, He’s not partial.  Every classroom can be a mission field for the teacher and parent who sees through the eyes of God.

There is a quote by Jim Collins from his book, “Good to Great” that I like.  It reads,

“Adherence to core values combined with a willingness to challenge and change everything except for those core values is key. We must keep the clear distinction between what we stand and work for (which should never change) and how we do things (which should never stop changing). Great organizations have a clear purpose - a reason for being.”

Although the Body of Christ shares the same values, within the institutions of our schools and churches, we may not share the same methods. It takes different ways to reach different people.  To reach the roughly 10,000 school-aged children in Union County, it takes us all.  

My heart is full when I say Olivia is ready for the next chapter of her life.  She knows she is loved by a living God who created and sustains life and actually cares about the details of her life.  She’s a Warrior, and, although the responsibility of her growth and development fell on us as parents, not a day goes by that we are not thankful for the companionship of the teachers, coaches and staff, church leaders, family, and friends who walked alongside us over the course of her early life and helped make her who she is today.  

You were each important.  Your presence was valued in whatever role you found yourself.

The Most Important Work

“Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”  1 Peter 5:8

Phil and I have always enjoyed watching wildlife and nature documentaries with our children.  When they were small, we wore out Marty Stouffer’s “Wild America” DVD set and did the same with Planet Earth several years later.  Even today, we enjoy the new Planet Earth II when there’s not a basketball game competing for the same time slot.

Wildlife is beautiful and brutal. One of the hardest things to watch is the death of one animal for the livelihood of another – especially when it’s a baby.  But, that’s the reality of the food chain.  The most vulnerable and easiest to take down are the young.  All the hunter needs to do is separate the off-spring from the protection of the parent, and then it’s pretty much over. 

It’s a simple plan that requires just a little effort by a lone hunter or team work by a pack.  An event for which every parent in the animal kingdom should be prepared – especially those at the top of the food chain.

In his book entitled, “Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions,” George Barna presents startling statistics about the young:

•       by age 2, all facets of a child’s moral and spiritual development begin

•       by age 9, moral and spiritual foundations are set in place

•       by age 13, the moral and spiritual beliefs by which all thoughts are processed and decisions are made are determined, resulting in a worldview that will change very little with time.

In addition, data showed there are 3 tiers of influence in a young person’s life.  Parents and all types of media and entertainment are primary influences.  Friends, siblings, teachers and schools fall in the second category of influence.  Churches and faith groups fall in the lower tier - noting that as children get older, they become more and more distracted and vulnerable to nonfamily influences.

Yet, Barna found that most American children develop their worldview by default - meaning there is little intention in the way parents train their children to think and process information.  Instead, they allow their children to be influenced by the world and depend on the church for spiritual training. 

Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?

Like it or not, today’s culture (and the cunning darkness within it) will swallow a young child whole if we, as parents and guardians, are not intentional in protecting and leading him or her in ways that are consistent with God’s truths, principles, and desires for His creation.

Children are the battlefront.  Their hearts and minds are open territory where thought patterns begin and behaviors are born.  They are society’s most valuable investment and Heaven’s most important work whether they belong to us or not.

Trust the Message

It’s Easter Sunday, and the sun is setting.  The day has been full of faith, family, and food – a good day that started before sunrise and one I wish would last just a little longer.

Easter is special.

I felt it this morning as I sat by the window and gazed into the dark while the coffee perked.  Jesus is alive!  As my pastor, Jonathan Kelley, later said, “it’s a message of life that outshines and overcomes all other messages.”

Not only do I believe this message, I trust it.  I trust it because it is a message of love, and love never fails.

I’m talking about real love – agape love – the choice-to-love kind of love.  Not the feeling.  Not the emotion.  But the action.  The decision.  The determination to forgive, honor, protect, and serve regardless of circumstances.

At Christmas, we gush over the newborn babe in the manger and marvel at the way by which He was brought into this world.  At Easter, we struggle to process the love that endured such suffering for a world that didn’t care and barely noticed.  His action.  His decision.  His determination (out of love, obedience, and trust in God) to serve regardless of circumstances is the message of life that I, too, trust and for which I want to live.

But, how? 

According to Beth Moore, “with serious discipline and determination…You don’t live this kind of life accidentally.  You make up your mind who you want to be and daily die to the rest.  You surrender yourself to living in the tension where you’ll always be stretched and often be broken.  Religion pure and undefiled is grit without the grime.  You accept that far easier ways to live exist, but you were born for nothing less.”

Jesus overcame and defeated death. Today, He is our high priest who intercedes for us and guides us through His Holy Spirit as long as we are here on earth.   He did this and does this because we matter.  You see, God is practical.  Like Jesus, He doesn’t ask us to do what doesn’t matter.

If people are hurting or suffering, if children are neglected or lost, there is work to do.  Period. Among those who profess to know Christ and love Him, there is no time for division.  It’s time to choose a higher way and let the presence of Christ in us speak for Himself.  The Lord is alive and He’s coming soon.  It’s time to get ready.  Trust the message.

Letting Go

It’s Palm Sunday and quiet in my house.

Phil has taken Sam turkey hunting, and John and my mom are still sleeping.  Olivia was on the road late last night traveling back to school with friends from the Hampton rodeo.  I slept with the volume of my cell phone up high so I would hear it if she needed us and assume she is safe and fast asleep in her dorm room this morning.

The sun is up, and the morning fog is almost gone except for what lingers over the pond.  The Canadian geese just made their first flight for the day over the house and have landed in their favorite spot for a morning meal.

I am still in my pajamas and sitting in my bedroom at a large wood desk that used to find its home next to my Grandmother’s bed.  The view through the window in front of me looks through our back porch toward the northern sky where below lies a beautiful, green pasture spotted with our neighbor’s cattle.

My coffee needs warming, but other than that, it’s pretty much a perfect morning.  My heart is full.

I suppose I should start getting ready for church, but I feel like it's time to share something that has been on my mind for many years.  Though my heart is full, it is also burdened.

My perfect little corner of the world would mean nothing and be nothing without the companionship of God’s Holy Spirit within me.  Because the Most High God is my God and Christ Jesus is my King, I know who I am, and it doesn’t change with my surroundings because it is His Life that gives me hope and purpose.  I’m good, and at a point where I would like to hang onto the beautiful things in my life (most importantly my family) and just live quietly.

However, society holds thousands of children who are rich in every way but living in a world of illusion.  Their comfortable lives are paired with a mere head knowledge of God that does not give them an effective lens for seeing themselves, others, or the world as Christ sees them.  Without this lens, they are left hungry, empty, and vulnerable to poor decisions that will have consequences that follow them the rest of their lives.

There are also thousands upon thousands of children who do not have the life-giving nourishment of loving parents, peaceful homes, financial security, or spiritual leadership that are essential to learning and growing with purpose and hope.  For these children, a healthy identity and firm foundation for life is even less likely.

Because of them, I can’t hang on to me.

So, this blog and all that follows after today is my best effort to Lean Toward Life  -  to speak and act in ways that breathe life into others and point to the One who made that triumphal entry into Jerusalem so many years ago.   Because of us, He let go.  

Seems like a good day for me too.