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When I was a child watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, there were always two words that would show up on the television screen I would hate to see. Whenever the words “The End” would appear, I would either be sad, mad, or both. Those words signal a change, the beginning of something new, the finish of something old, or a time to switch gears in my frame of thinking. Endings never come easy for things good and can’t come fast enough for things not enjoyable. Endings always start a new beginning. The 2012-2013 school year has ended. We now set our sights on next year. But for now let us enjoy this restful break called summer.

Even greater things are in store for us in God’s Kingdom! Jesus spoke of this present age eventually coming to an end. Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” This ending Jesus speaks of will yield a much greater beginning.

Jesus encourages us to be strong in our faith. The world is becoming more and more hostile toward Christianity. Standing up for the truth is not fashionable, nor sharing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, feasible! God’s word is being twisted and its warnings no longer heeded. Jesus said in Matthew 10:22, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Jesus goes so far as to say in Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End.”

I would like to share a poem with you entitled “The End.”

The end has come, let us close the door,

Quickly! Turn out the lights, there is no more!

Let’s shut the curtain on this year’s stage,

The book is finished, we’re on the last page!

When the end comes, we will look ahead,

“There is a brighter day”, Jesus said!

A hope for tomorrow written in God’s word,

It is the greatest news we have ever heard!

Oh wait! The final bell has not rung,

There is another chorus we haven’t sung!

Jesus will restore, and our hearts He will mend,

For the Lord said, “I am the beginning and the end.”

I look forward to next school year with great hope and excitement. God has everything under control. I can’t help but think of Noah. The end of the earth as he knew it had come, endless days of rain, and nothing but water to look at. But one day a dove he released returned with an olive leaf in its beak!! Have a great summer and God bless!

Happy Mother’s Day! To all Appleton Christian School mothers and grandmothers: Thank you for all your love and sacrifice for your children! It is truly a blessing to work with you concerning your child’s education.

How does one describe a mother? One who is sharing, sparing, caring, and daring? Certainly! Mothers are builders, they help build the family from its roots up-ward. Mothers are part of the foundation of each family. Mothers do heroic deeds, plant seeds, leads, feeds, heeds, and tends to needs. Solomon states in Proverbs 6:20-21:

“My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.”

This confirms the importance that a mother plays in the family structure. Former First Lady Barbara Bush has a unique story of motherhood. She was the wife of one president and the mother of another president. She spent much of her time raising five children, one of whom was diagnosed with dyslexia. Barbara Bush had a lifelong passion for literacy. She was quoted as saying, “You don’t just chance into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities.” Mothers are part of the foundational building blocks in the family. I wrote the following poem to honor all of our mothers whether they are still with us or in heaven. It is entitled “She”.

SHE
by Jim Meyer

She wipes tears, calms fears, and is a home maker,
With strong will, expert skill, she’s the world’s greatest baker!
She prepares food, with tomatoes stewed, and is a gourmet cook,
With dish water hands, clean pans, and time to read me a book!
She runs the house, chases a mouse, and keeps the rooms clean,
With old rags, garbage bags, she’s the best you’ve ever seen!
She cleans clothes, folds in rows, and is the family tailor,
With prayer in stormy seas, on her knees, she guides like a seasoned sailor!
She offers to pray, throughout the day, and builds our family high,
With church shoes, Sunday pews, and Jesus she won’t deny!
She lays ground rules, offers learning tools, her voice we will obey,
With stern looks, and pruning hooks, she helps us find our way!
She talks to my teacher, calls the preacher, and leads us to the truth,
With Bible in hand, infant to promise land, she pulled my first tooth!
She loved me, it’s plain to see, and nurtured God’s call,
With prayers to heaven, seventy times seven, she portrayed Jesus most of all!

Calling all mothers and grandmothers! Yours is a special calling. Thank you for all the great food. My whole childhood seems to be filled with leftovers. I don’t think the original meal has ever been found!! Mothers and Grandmothers, thank you for your prayers. My own mother and mother-in-law were the two greatest prayer warriors I have ever known! Happy Mother’s Day!

Perseverance and persistence are words seldom spoken anymore. They are lost in dusty dictionaries that are no longer opened. They are unused words that do not find their way on the written page. In the “immediate gratification” philosophy that so bombards our young people, there seems to be no room for patience, pressing on, and seeing something through to the end. Yet perseverance and persistence are needed when we become weary while carrying out God’s will for our family, our children, and ourselves.

Whenever those times of weariness come, and they will come, be encouraged that God will help us through if we ask him. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” The key words are to “press on” even when it is hard to do so. Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.” That never give up attitude is what makes a cocoon into a butterfly, a pile of bricks into a building, a student teacher into an educator, and a school into a ministry. Sometimes life feels like a broken down furnace, when times get tough it is not time to retire, but to re-fire!!! Ben Franklin once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.” Parents and family members, as we push through and put our trust in God during the process, He is watching. Jesus will stand with us all the way to final victory! Jesus said this to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:2, “I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance.” What others may not see in you, Jesus sees! Thank you for “pressing on” toward the goal of educating our children for the glory of God!

Today is another day that the Lord has given to us. As we begin this busy week of working, transporting our children, helping them with homework, paying our bills, preparing meals, shopping, and more or less pouring out our lives for our families, let us take a moment to look at some of the simple things in life. Why would we want to take time and focus on the simple things? Noticing the little things help us to appreciate God’s hidden gifts, puts our attention on the simple pleasures of living the Christian Life, and helps reduce stress brought about by the rush of everyday living. For instance, our first simple pleasure is the ability to breathe. We do it over 17,000 times in a 24 hour period without even thinking about it! Doesn’t it feel good to take a deep breath once in a while? Genesis 2:7 states, “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life …”

The ability to see and hear the world around us is another simple blessing we often overlook. Examining a flower or hearing the singing of birds in the trees. Helen Keller, who was both blind and deaf all her life once said this, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” God has placed the simple things in our path not only for us to enjoy, but also to draw strength from when the pressure of everyday life closes in. 1 Corinthians 1:27 states, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” We always have something to thank God for. It may be simple, but oh so powerful. Here are ten simple everyday pleasures to help reduce stress and build-up our spirit for the glory of Jesus Christ!

• Looking at a budding tree in my backyard!
• Seeing an overflowing donation box!
• Finding a teenager reading a real book!
• Playing an old board game with my family!
• Helping a turtle to cross the road!
• Reading my grandfather’s worn-out Bible due to heavy usage!
• Watching children hug their grandparents!
• Viewing a bird landing on a bird feeder!
• Observing a crowd at the airport welcoming a soldier home!
• Seeing a mom or dad holding their child’s hand!

Keeping it simple, in doing so we honor God, the author and finisher of our faith! For without Him, what is there?

Jim Meyer

Administrator

While looking into my family tree photos the other day, I came across a picture of two boys posing for a photo dated 1886! They sat on a stool just looking at the camera with straight faces. They couldn’t have been more than 12 years old with their whole lives ahead of them. Moving ahead 50 years, I saw pictures of these boys all grown up, married, and with their families. The images had changed quite a bit, but in essence these boys were the same as they were in their childhood. The same personality, the same heart pumping the same blood through their veins, the same spirit that I am convinced that only mothers can sense, and the same creation made in God’s own image. God takes pictures of us on a daily basis. As He opens the photo album of our lives, what will He see?

As we sit before God’s camera today with our neatly combed hair and smiling faces, remember there is a story behind each face. For both students and adults alike, we all have a tale to tell. For some of us there is a story of happiness. Things are going well and everything is falling into place right now. Praise the Lord! Let us always remember to praise and thank the Lord for the good times! Besides, after the flash of the camera we can be assured that we all look like God’s creation anyway. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Do you mean my image is similar to God’s? (No further comment on my image!) Then there are those from behind the picture that tell a story of sadness. That smiling face is only a cover for what is really inside. That someone may need a word of encouragement, a listening ear, or just someone to be there. Mother Teresa once said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” The writer of Hebrews said this in chapter 3:13, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Let us all be tuned in today to the life behind the photo! May God’s snapshot of you turn out well.

Jim Meyer

Administrator

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! We make them day in and day out and sometimes without even thinking! Wisdom is the ability to make the right decisions at the right time. In our busy lives with so many decisions to make, wisdom is of high value. King Solomon wrote these words in Proverbs 3:13-16, “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and yields better returns then gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can com-pare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.”

By the time this school day is over we would have made thousands of decisions both big and small involving our lives and our children. Will they be the right deci-sions? Will we look back on the day and wish at certain times we could have a “do over?” Here is where wisdom comes into focus. Not just any old wisdom, but wisdom that comes from God. My prayer for all of us today is that God will give us wisdom in all situations. Here is my favorite story involving wisdom found in Ecclesiastes 9: 13-18. “I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me. There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, wisdom is bet-ter than strength. But the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are no longer needed. The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is bet-ter than weapons of war.” God will give us wisdom to make good decisions today!

Your four year old son or daughter comes running toward you. Eyes are filled with tears. Fear and pain displayed on their face and a scrape on their knee. You clean up the wound, dry the tears, and comfort with a hug that drives all fear away. Incidents such as these come and go quickly and tend to get buried in our pile of memories day in and day out. Perhaps we have forgotten such times as these, but God remembers. We as parents are not only leaders in our families, but also servants. The idea of servant leader comes to mind. We lead and guide our children, yet serve them and tend to their needs. These small acts of servant-hood may seem to fall by the wayside, unremembered. But God does not forget. Jesus said this in Matthew 10:42, “And if anyone gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” The little acts of servant-hood toward our children and others are a big deal to Jesus! He even goes so far as to say this in Matthew 25:40, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Showing love for our children is like showing love directly to Jesus himself. Consider the following list as we as parents go through the so-called mundane things in life.

1. Jesus was thirsty today. You gave him water!

2. Jesus had a bloody nose today! You wiped it clean!

3. Jesus was crying. You comforted Him!

4. Jesus needed his clothes cleaned. You washed them!

5. Jesus needed a new pair of shoes. You provided it!

6. Jesus had trouble with homework! You helped Him!

7. Jesus was hungry! You gave him something to eat!

How serious is Jesus when it comes to caring for and protecting our children? He spoke these words in Matthew 18:6, “But if anyone causes one of the little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” There is nothing on this earth that can equal the value of a human soul. All the gold, silver, and precious jewels on earth are not enough. In God’s eyes the value of just one person cannot be counted in natural terms. 1 John 3:1 states, “ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! “ This love is not just poured, but dumped on us, thus drenching us to the bone with His love! To God be the glory!

Jim Meyer, Administrator

Have you ever tried to walk through a room that was so dark you could not see anything at all? Trying to make your way around in pitch black darkness can be a terribly uncertain thing; your hands extended in front of you, walking at a pace no greater than a shuffle. Then a friend enters the room and tries to reassure you with these words, “Don’t worry, I’ll find the dark switch and turn it off!”

What? The dark switch, what is that? The truth of the matter is that there is no dark switch to turn darkness on or off. There are only light switches.

One of the basic principles of light is that it always overcomes darkness. But darkness cannot overcome light. The only way darkness can exist is due to the absence of light. Light must be turned off in order for darkness to reign. This analogy between light and darkness applies to the spiritual realm, as well. The light is God’s righteousness and the dark is the evil in this world. In Psalm 18:28, David say’s, “You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Light invades the darkness and overcomes it. Dark exists only because there is no light present. Darkness can only exist when there is no light.

Author Ayn Rand once said, “The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it.” Edmund Burke writes, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” As parents, we are like lighthouses to our children. As they try to navigate through the darkness of this world, we must show forth the light of righteousness and to guide them to safety — to the Truth.

By human terms light is hard to define. Webster’s Dictionary describes it as, “Something that makes things visible or affords illumination.” The Oxford American Dictionary defines it as, “The agent that stimulates the sense of sight.” Those definitions pale significantly in comparison to God’s own declaration when He say’s He is Light! Can light be defined any better than that?

Man may never be able to fully explain what light actually is, but we have the Truth of Scripture that reveals God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness.

Whether as parents, teachers, or school staff, let’s pray that the children will see the light of Christ reflected in us.

Jim Meyer, Administrator

The recipe called for a sprinkling of patience, a dash of discipline, one cup of encouragement, a pinch of understanding, and a whole lot of love. The recipe for parenting children! What else could be so very frustrating and yet bring the greatest joy? Children are un-questionably gifts from God. We are blessed to have them in our school, in our homes, and in our lives. Jesus loved children and allowed parents to bring them to him during His ministry. Even heaven is filled with children. Think of the millions upon millions of children throughout history who have died before their time due to hunger, disease, and other causes.

Jesus makes this interesting statement in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much in the area of children’s ministry in the Bible. But if we look closely Jesus did minister to children. Three times in the book of Matthew Jesus healed individual kids. (Matthew 9:18-25; 15:21-28; 17:14-18) Each of the three times the children’s parents came forward first and requested Jesus’ help. Parents are the spiritual guardians of their children. God has given all of us as parents the noble task of raising and guiding our kids in the ways of righteousness. It never ceases to amaze me how funny children can be by just being themselves. In an article entitled “And God Laughed: Through a Child’s Eyes”, elementary aged children were asked to write a short note to God about whatever was on their mind at the time.

Here are some examples:

• Dear God, “In Bible times did they really talk that fancy?” –Jennifer
• Dear God, “Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.” –Joyce
• Dear God, “If you watch in church on Sunday I will show you my new shoes.” –Mickey
• Dear God, “Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my broth-er.” –Larry
• Dear God, “We read Thos. Edison made light. But in Sunday School they said you did it. So I bet he stoled your idea.” –Sincerely, Donna
• Dear God, “I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in my family and I can never do it.” –Nancy

May God bless you and your family!

Sincerely,

Jim Meyer

Administrator

Welcome to a new day, at the beginning of a new week, at the start of a new month, and the dawning of a new year! There is something about “newness” that brings a refreshing feeling to us all. David said in Psalm 98:1, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things.” The Lord has new things in store for us today! He has new blessings to give us! Lamentations 3: 22-23 says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning!” Think of how great it is to put on a new shirt, drive a new car, touch a new dollar bill, hear a new song on the radio, or bite into a shiny new apple! Today is a new day! Let’s see what God has in store. Isaiah 42:9 “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” What is so special about “today?” Please consider these top five reasons to rejoice in today!

1. We are one day closer to completing God’s plan for this year!
2. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives!
3. This day will never be repeated again!
4. This day has been specifically planned by God for you!
5. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet, and “today” is all we have!

God is leading us forward for this New Year, 2013. We are all starting the year on the same page and moving in the same direction. As Oliver Wendell Holmes put it so eloquently, “It is not so much where we are standing as in what direction we are moving.” But rest assured that when God leads us, it will always be the right way! Let’s look at Abraham’s situation in Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” With God’s help, we as a faculty and staff will continue to do our best to create a safe and secure learning environment for your children. Please keep your school (ACS) in prayer as we all move forward in the leadership of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t get any better than that!!!!

Love in Christ,

Jim Meyer