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"Give Me Your Eyes"

WELCOME BACK!

If you have ever needed corrective lenses before, you know that experience of putting your new glasses on for the first time and being totally amazed at the clarity and preciseness of your vision! I was in third grade and still remember to this day walking out of the eye doctor's office wearing my new glasses, being in awe of my new and improved sight, and the ability to see things like street signs and birds flying through the sky with such clearness! It occurred to me that I had become so accustomed to my poor vision that I didn't realize everything that I was missing!

Praising God For A Tremendous School Year!

We began this school year with the motto of "Do Something", based on the Scripture verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

Throughout the year, we have been in awe of the tremendous blessings that the Lord has showered upon us and the strength that He has given us to do many things in His name.

As I sat and reflected with a group of eighth graders, we came up with the following list of memorable 2016/2017 blessings:

What an Incre-DI-ble Experience!

Last week, two St. Matthew teams had the opportunity to participate at the DI Global Tournament, which was located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Both teams were blessed with a fabulous experience, which concluded with our seventh grade team earning a 16th Global placement, and our third/fourth grade team earning a 35th Global placement. Both teams would like to thank everyone for their encouragement, support, and prayers! To help paint a little picture of Globals, here are a few insights from the team members:

Finishing Strong

"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."  Hebrew 12: 1 - 2

There is a famous line that goes "back in my day..." followed by some outlandish statement such as walking five miles up hill both ways to school. I would laugh at how often my grandmother would use this statement.

Now that I am older and listening to my students' and my own children's stories, I also find myself frequently chiming in with similar statements such as, "Well, back in my day, I used to make .50 an hour for babysitting" or "Back in my day, I had to find a pay phone to call my parents to let them know I was running late" or "Back in my day, our first video camera was about the size and weight of a small safe!"

During one of our school's recent track meets,  I was reminiscing about the old video camera days as I was watching how easy it is now for parents to video their children from their phones.  As I was talking to a group of parents about my original gi-normous video camera, I remembered a treasured memory that this huge piece of equipment captured for a grieving family.

TWO TEAMS HEADING TO DI GLOBAL COMPETITION NEXT WEEK!

"Every good and  perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."   James 1:17

Lately, my middle son has fallen in love with the company entitled, "Personalization Mall", an online business that allows for you to create your own type of personalized items.  With a personality mix of creativity and a flair for selecting gifts, the sky is the limit for this boy, now that he has found a company that allows you to design your own gifts!
 
As a result of this new fascination, his family and friends have been recipients of some pretty unique presents.   For example, at Christmas, each family member received a coffee mug from his dog, Finnegan, decorated in a collage of family photos where each of us is posed with Finn.  For his buddy's baby shower, he put a photo of himself on a baby onesie with the caption that said, "Ask me about my single friends."

And for Mother's Day, he mailed me this:

Happy Mother's Day

"A woman who respects the Lord should be praised."  Proverbs 31:30

One thing that I enjoy is hearing and telling a good story!  As a principal, I can tell you that my days are filled with treasured moments where the students of our school say or do things that are absolutely priceless.  However, I also have the privilege of hearing hilarious stories from parents regarding situations that occur in the home environment as well.

Come Fly With Us To Neverland!

"Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them!"  Psalm 69:34

Do your children have a certain movie that they enjoy so much that they will tend to watch it over and over and over again?  When my oldest son was a young boy, he was obsessed with Peter Pan, and when given the opportunity to select a movie, that was ALWAYS his choice. 
It just so happened that my sister and her family visited during the Peter Pan extravaganza, and after a few days, my brother-in-law requested if he could borrow our car.  When he returned, he handed Joshua a bag filled with numerous other children's movies, and with a smile said, "Josh, every boy needs to learn that he will one day need to leave Neverland.  Maybe you could start a little early and take a little break from Peter Pan while we're here?"

How Much Is In Your Tank?

"Be still and know that I am God."       Psalm 46:10

Have you ever experienced an issue with your car that only seemed to happen when you are driving it, but as soon as you take it to the dealership, the issue mysteriously disappears?

For the past few months, my car has developed an odd habit that only seems to occur when I am sitting in the driver's seat.  At least once every few days, while the car is in motion, the interior lights will suddenly turn on and the automatic driver's seat will unexpectedly move backwards.  At first, this was quite alarming as I found myself moving away from the steering wheel while the car was in motion!  When I have passengers that witness the unexpected chain of events, they are often startled as they watch me slowly move backwards as they are speaking to me. Sometimes, it is even comical to watch passengers' reactions as I try to nonchalantly act like nothing wrong is happening. However, what's frustrating is that every time my husband takes it to the dealership or a mechanic... it NEVER happens!

Want To Learn How To Trust God More? Dr. Micah Parker Visits St. Matthew this Sunday!

"One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go!"

For years, this was the motivating cheer that my husband would use to encourage my young children to jump into his arms as he waited for them in the deep end of the swimming pool.  But what causes little ones to ignore the depth of the water and still leap into the air as well as their father's waiting arms?

The answer is... trust!

Children will jump into their parents' arms because they trust that they will catch them.

A SMASHING TALE OF FORGIVENESS!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

When I first became the principal of St. Matthew Lutheran School, the white H.O.M.E. next to the parking lot was designated as the "Teacherage", and it was always part of the compensation package offered to every St. Matthew principal.  This house offered a multitude of benefits and blessings to my family, such as being close to home when I worked, no traffic congestion to deal with during my walking commute across the parking lot, having an automatic wake-up call when the garbage was picked up at 5:30 a.m., and not having to worry about finding a parking spot for church on Sundays!  In addition, my children greatly benefited from the friendships and coaching of the four extremely athletic Pastor's sons that lived next door.  As a result, I have always attributed my boys' athletic skills to these early next-door mentors.

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