December's meeting was another valuable meeting. However it was different in that as Brandyn West brought the devotional. She had contacted alumni from last year's class and had them write how the Maranatha experience was serving them in their current endeavors. The ringing validation that the work being done through Maranatha is impacting lives and preparing our students for life after school was consistent and strong. We invested a half hour of our meeting celebrating the Lord's work through our students and contemplating how do we package these testimonials and these results and reach other families to consider Maranatha. What a blessing! I have asked Brandyn to get permission for me to post some of these quotes here and to use them on our web site.
After that enjoyable, encouraging time, we went through the Committee reports with the main action taken of accepting the 5 year plans for each Committee. The Facilities Committee will be focusing on significant projects that enhance the fundamentals of the North Campus: finishing the monument sign,adding a security system, reworking the bathrooms in the gymnasium, new air lock entrance to gym and enhancing the stage area with curtains and sound.
The Development Committee will be seeking to raise funds to make some other leaps in our facilities like additional gym bleachers, and making some athletic team rooms. They will also be looking for ways to keep bringing the international students to enrich our school and finding other ways to stabilize our enrollment trends.
The Finance Committee is seeking to keep moving the school to increased financial stability. We are adding more reserve funds for deferred maintenance, capital, and endowment. In addition we are committed to finding a way to unfreeze staff salaries which have been held firm for several years due to budget constraints.
Please continue in prayer as we prepare for the new calendar year. Specifically:
* That families will keep there kids at Maranatha and that new families will join us
* That we will be wise in handling the tuition rate for 2011-2012
* That our finances would continue to build some cushion and provide for some additional contributions to our staff
* That the Board will continue to crystallize our unity around plans, policies and guiding principles
* Most important of all...that God would be glorified in all that relates to Maranatha.
Merry Christmas!
New Landscaping
Beautiful new landscaping
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
That is what I call a WIN!
No we did not win on the scoreboard nor did we even score more points than we did the previous night. However we did accomplish something much more important.
After Thursday night's performance of low energy, minimal commitment to what we had practiced, poor fundamentals, etc, I challenged the girls pretty strongly after the game. When I went down to give the pregame talk the next night, I was pleasantly surprised - although not shocked - to find that the captains - Emma Vavricek and Cassie Fulk - had called a team meeting during the previous quarter of the boy's game. The whole team had agreed on some goals for the team and went around the room and each girl took accountability for their part. I was so blessed by this! They covered every aspect of what I was going to cover about the mental and heart part of dealing with adversity and competing in games. All I had to then discuss was a few strategies and plays and they were ready to go. Parents of these girls, I am just confirming what you probably already know...you have some wonderful girls quickly learning how to deal with life in godly way.
So maybe we all could learn from these families: Vavricek, Hunt, Fulk, Espinoza, Meyer, Bennett, Chapin-Patch, McConnell, Buckner, Kyle and Kroening. I have! And this is why I believe in the Mission of Maranatha.
After Thursday night's performance of low energy, minimal commitment to what we had practiced, poor fundamentals, etc, I challenged the girls pretty strongly after the game. When I went down to give the pregame talk the next night, I was pleasantly surprised - although not shocked - to find that the captains - Emma Vavricek and Cassie Fulk - had called a team meeting during the previous quarter of the boy's game. The whole team had agreed on some goals for the team and went around the room and each girl took accountability for their part. I was so blessed by this! They covered every aspect of what I was going to cover about the mental and heart part of dealing with adversity and competing in games. All I had to then discuss was a few strategies and plays and they were ready to go. Parents of these girls, I am just confirming what you probably already know...you have some wonderful girls quickly learning how to deal with life in godly way.
So maybe we all could learn from these families: Vavricek, Hunt, Fulk, Espinoza, Meyer, Bennett, Chapin-Patch, McConnell, Buckner, Kyle and Kroening. I have! And this is why I believe in the Mission of Maranatha.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Coaching Basketball
Another role I serve at Maranatha is head coach for the high school girls' basketball team. I thoroughly enjoy this ministry! Wonderful young ladies who have linked arms to journey through a season of successes, adversity, joys and tears.
So much can be taught and then applied in the arena of sports. Several examples have already occurred for our team in 2010: we elect our captains at the end of previous season and that gives them almost a whole year of practicing leadership - communication, being an example, making decisions, and mentoring. Another example is adversity which comes when things don't go the way you want - like losing a game. One common theme I have been reminding the girls is that it is in adversity when we learn the most. Isn't that true in life? Well we lost our first game of the season in a fashion that no one enjoyed. How the girls and the coaches respond in our game tonight will be very illuminating as to the character of our team. The scoreboard outcome is unknown, but do we play with heart, do we learn from our mistakes, are we still joyful Christians even in adversity and will we be focused on ourselves or on our team mates?
In the crucible of the basketball court, our girls are getting to put into practical application the Christian character that is being taught and modeled in your homes, at school, in your churches and by the coaches. Let's make sure we are out there rooting them on to succeed at that...regardless of what the scoreboard says.
So much can be taught and then applied in the arena of sports. Several examples have already occurred for our team in 2010: we elect our captains at the end of previous season and that gives them almost a whole year of practicing leadership - communication, being an example, making decisions, and mentoring. Another example is adversity which comes when things don't go the way you want - like losing a game. One common theme I have been reminding the girls is that it is in adversity when we learn the most. Isn't that true in life? Well we lost our first game of the season in a fashion that no one enjoyed. How the girls and the coaches respond in our game tonight will be very illuminating as to the character of our team. The scoreboard outcome is unknown, but do we play with heart, do we learn from our mistakes, are we still joyful Christians even in adversity and will we be focused on ourselves or on our team mates?
In the crucible of the basketball court, our girls are getting to put into practical application the Christian character that is being taught and modeled in your homes, at school, in your churches and by the coaches. Let's make sure we are out there rooting them on to succeed at that...regardless of what the scoreboard says.
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