Education
When a new year begins, especially this year at the beginning of a new decade, we always grow a bit nostalgic. As we look back and reflect we also look forward. I am sure by this time you have heard and read enough about the woes of the past decade, referred to by some as the most difficult decade in the U.S. since the Great Depression. Agree or not, this certainly has been a decade of change, with wide swings in the economy as well as governmental policies. Someone shared an editorial with me from the Wall Street Journal written by Peggy Noonan. I know very little about Ms. Noonan, but I found her insights to be important. It is her premise that institutions that were designed and purposed to “hold us together” as a nation, the glue of commerce and living, have struggled, floundered and even failed this past decade because they had forgotten their mission. According to the article government, banks, Wall Street, even churches and schools have lost their way. They have forgotten or abandoned their mission for the sake of profits or individual gain. They have failed to first serve the communities they are in place to support and worried primarily about the possible advantages strictly from a personal or individualistic point of view. I think there is a great deal of truth to that insight. Noonan is calling for the watchwords of the next decade to be “repair, rebuild and return.” This is good advice for our nation, our businesses, our local governments, our churches, and our schools. Holland Christian is no exception to that charge to make sure we have not lost sight of our mission. I am pleased to relate, as I have a few times in previous pod casts, that the leadership of Holland Christian is neck deep in that very effort. We are carefully evaluating if we are remaining guided and directed by our mission. Are we fully aware of who we are as a school and what sets us apart from other schools? Are we still doing business in the same manner as we have always done it because it is easier or because it remains the best way to govern and direct the school? Do we know our priorities? Are our limited resources being used in such a way that they match our priorities? Are we caught up in things that favor a few but do not serve the entire community well? Are we making choices that are expedient but not sustainable in the long term? These are difficult but very critical questions that we must be asking constantly, especially right now as we see institution after institution crumbling from inside because they did not pay attention to their mission. This is not a new idea. As a matter of fact we have been called to be repairers and rebuilders in Scripture. Isaiah 58 tells us that the Lord will guide you always and He will satisfy your needs if you will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise up the foundations, and then you will be called Repairers of the broken walls. There are great lessons we can learn from the physical attributes of being builders, repairers, and restorers. We must work as a community to rebuild the walls on those foundational principals that have guided us for over 100 years. But that will not happen by sitting on the sidelines. The time for action is now; we can wait no longer. As a nation, as a community, as a school we must rise up together and make absolutely sure we are returning to be being rebuilders and repairers of God’s kingdom here on earth. It starts with each person, each family, each business, each church, and each school. Are we still doing what God has called us to do? Are we doing it as well as we can? The promises are great if we are faithful to that call.