I started this school year with the blessing of attending the teachers first meeting of the year. They shared how the Lord used the summer to recharge their energy and mind for the school year ahead. They also experienced God's instruction during that time that helped them continue to mature in the Lord so that they are even better models for our students.
Well, to wrap up the school year, I was again blessed by our teachers as I attended their year end event. We started out with a beautiful rendition of "His Eye is on the Sparrow" by 5 moms from the school. Then were thrilled to hear from Dr. Daugherty on his first trip back to the school after his stay in the hospital. He challenged us all to remember the passion for why we are involved in Christian education and to wake up each day asking "what do you have for me to do today, Lord?"
The heart of the time was in the worship: first in singing led by Mrs. Smith and Mr. Gordon and then in testimonies from many. It was comforting to hear how God continues to work through adversity and triumphs to help us all grow. There were many tremendous challenges: finances, surgeries, tough kids, danger to family, etc, but through it all we realized that God was still in control and shaping us for His service.
There were many awards given out for longevity. We had several teachers cross thresholds of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and even 30 years of service at Maranatha. Thank God for their service and impact on young lives. We also honored Doris Boster as she is retiring after serving Maranatha full time for 19 years. She received several nice gifts and many kind words for her time invested here.
Thank the Lord for this year, and we look forward to the next.
New Landscaping
Beautiful new landscaping
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Graduation
Highlight of the year. That is what I told several people as I anticipated the start of the proceedings. I was certainly not disappointed. A wonderful blend of memories, performances, speeches, fun, family and honoring our young people as they completed this step in the journey of life. It is wonderful to be able to honor our Lord and our country throughout the event. I look forward to hearing stories of how these graduates impact our world for our Lord.
We certainly missed having Dr. Daugherty there, but he will get to review the video. When I visited him in the hospital I asked him if he had any special handshakes I should practice in anticipation of me filling in for him. I was trying to be humorous. Little did I realize he had about 5 or 6 pointers for me as it was more involved than I thought. Good thing I heard those pointers as I had to grab the robe of a couple graduates to keep them from running off the stage too quickly. What fun! And what a blessing for me as several of these young people I have had considerable amount of interaction with such as Brady Bergerhofer, Kelsey Davidson, Drew Swank and Devante Williams. In fact the Bergerhofers are real close friends, so I have witnessed Brady's growth from newborn to graduate. What a joy!
Well, we will be praying for you graduates. Keep seeking the Lord.
We certainly missed having Dr. Daugherty there, but he will get to review the video. When I visited him in the hospital I asked him if he had any special handshakes I should practice in anticipation of me filling in for him. I was trying to be humorous. Little did I realize he had about 5 or 6 pointers for me as it was more involved than I thought. Good thing I heard those pointers as I had to grab the robe of a couple graduates to keep them from running off the stage too quickly. What fun! And what a blessing for me as several of these young people I have had considerable amount of interaction with such as Brady Bergerhofer, Kelsey Davidson, Drew Swank and Devante Williams. In fact the Bergerhofers are real close friends, so I have witnessed Brady's growth from newborn to graduate. What a joy!
Well, we will be praying for you graduates. Keep seeking the Lord.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Dr Daugherty
As I trust you are aware Dr Daugherty was taken to the hospital on Friday and had surgery. I saw him Wednesday afternoon and he was ready to go home! The Lord's hand was certainly on Dr Daugherty as things could have turned out much differently, but we are grateful that he is on the road to recovery and anxious to get back in the middle of things.
I wanted to share that the Board was made aware of the situation fairly early on and immediately went to a time of prayer. We have since been discussing possible scenarios based on Dr. Daugherty's availability, personal preferences and health. These conversations were theoretical concerning possible situations so that we could respond more thoughtfully should any of them develop into reality. The good news is that we believe we are decently prepared for most situations. I say decently, because Dr Daugherty's responsibilities and impact on the school would take considerable measures from several people to ensure smooth operation of the school in his absence.
In addition, I have offered to Mr. Beck and Mrs. Burch the services of the Board and my time to do what we can to keep things running smoothly. As a very tangible example of that is that I will be planning to meet with them on a weekly basis and be available by phone to keep the Board aware of where we can help and be another resource to resolving questions and issues where Dr Daugherty normally provided that function.
Please keep Dr Daugherty in your prayers and for the leadership of the school as we wrap up this school year and transition into planning for the next.
I wanted to share that the Board was made aware of the situation fairly early on and immediately went to a time of prayer. We have since been discussing possible scenarios based on Dr. Daugherty's availability, personal preferences and health. These conversations were theoretical concerning possible situations so that we could respond more thoughtfully should any of them develop into reality. The good news is that we believe we are decently prepared for most situations. I say decently, because Dr Daugherty's responsibilities and impact on the school would take considerable measures from several people to ensure smooth operation of the school in his absence.
In addition, I have offered to Mr. Beck and Mrs. Burch the services of the Board and my time to do what we can to keep things running smoothly. As a very tangible example of that is that I will be planning to meet with them on a weekly basis and be available by phone to keep the Board aware of where we can help and be another resource to resolving questions and issues where Dr Daugherty normally provided that function.
Please keep Dr Daugherty in your prayers and for the leadership of the school as we wrap up this school year and transition into planning for the next.
Friday, May 6, 2011
April's Board Meeting
We had just enough Board members to conduct the meeting last night as work and activities kept a few away. However, that did not prevent some significant and positive action to be conducted and completed.
We opened the meeting in an extended time of prayer after reviewing the blessing of the National Day of Prayer coordinated by Laura Burch. It was a well attended event that did an excellent job of expressing our thankfulness to God and petitioning Him for His protection and guidance for our families, school, state and nation.
This is also the time of year when we consider Board nominations. Andy Hageman has taken a job opportunity in Nebraska and will be moving there this summer. That means he has resigned from the Board, so we are considering filling the role he served on the Facilities Committee as well as finding people with talent and experience in the areas of finance and human resources. We have 3 candidates that we will start the process with and ask them to consider serving with us on the Board. We plan to work through that process and have them on Board before the next school year starts.
We reviewed activities of the Facilities Committee which included progress on the monument sign at the North Campus (the foundation has been poured), upcoming review of options for security and communication systems for the North Campus, the planned installation of the bleachers in October, and various other maintenance items such as parking lot repair, shingles missing, mulch containment and other such fun things.
Finally we spent time reaching a consensus on the important matter of what is our point of differentiation (our market stance) in the marketplace recognizing that our target audience is Christian families. I am delighted to say that we quickly came to agreement on the matter and I have asked the Development Committee to create a statement that summarizes that agreement. We will use that market stance as the guiding and most prominent feature that should attract families to Maranatha. More to come on this topic soon.
Look forward to seeing you at one of the many school activities this month.
We opened the meeting in an extended time of prayer after reviewing the blessing of the National Day of Prayer coordinated by Laura Burch. It was a well attended event that did an excellent job of expressing our thankfulness to God and petitioning Him for His protection and guidance for our families, school, state and nation.
This is also the time of year when we consider Board nominations. Andy Hageman has taken a job opportunity in Nebraska and will be moving there this summer. That means he has resigned from the Board, so we are considering filling the role he served on the Facilities Committee as well as finding people with talent and experience in the areas of finance and human resources. We have 3 candidates that we will start the process with and ask them to consider serving with us on the Board. We plan to work through that process and have them on Board before the next school year starts.
We reviewed activities of the Facilities Committee which included progress on the monument sign at the North Campus (the foundation has been poured), upcoming review of options for security and communication systems for the North Campus, the planned installation of the bleachers in October, and various other maintenance items such as parking lot repair, shingles missing, mulch containment and other such fun things.
Finally we spent time reaching a consensus on the important matter of what is our point of differentiation (our market stance) in the marketplace recognizing that our target audience is Christian families. I am delighted to say that we quickly came to agreement on the matter and I have asked the Development Committee to create a statement that summarizes that agreement. We will use that market stance as the guiding and most prominent feature that should attract families to Maranatha. More to come on this topic soon.
Look forward to seeing you at one of the many school activities this month.
Help - Need helper for basketball camp
July 11-15 of this year we are going to have our first Country Basketball & Bible Camp in Waverly, KS. I am very excited about this event. It should provide the opportunity for our girls to bond closer to God and to each other as well as take their game up a notch or two. We have 34 girls that will be at the camp - which is awesome! - but that means I need at least 5 assistants during the basketball portion of the camp - approximately 9-4 - Tuesday through Friday. I am also looking for someone - preferably a young lady - that would be interested in being the strength, stretching and conditioning coach for the week.
I have several people who have volunteered to come down a couple days and help coach during the camp. Since it is difficult to have people commit to being available the whole week, I need a few more people who know some basketball to come be my assistant on a day or two. So if you are interested in helping or know someone who is, please let me know.
Waverly is 65 minutes from the school. Straight down I-35, halfway between Ottawa and Emporia. Waverly is where I grew up so we will be using a church camp ground to have the girls stay, eat, study God's Word and have some country fun. We will be using my high school's gym for the basketball portion.
I have several people who have volunteered to come down a couple days and help coach during the camp. Since it is difficult to have people commit to being available the whole week, I need a few more people who know some basketball to come be my assistant on a day or two. So if you are interested in helping or know someone who is, please let me know.
Waverly is 65 minutes from the school. Straight down I-35, halfway between Ottawa and Emporia. Waverly is where I grew up so we will be using a church camp ground to have the girls stay, eat, study God's Word and have some country fun. We will be using my high school's gym for the basketball portion.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
National Day of Prayer
I really appreciate Laura Burch's leadership in setting up an event in support of our National Day of Prayer. There is much we need to go to our Father for:
- Worship - recognize Him for who He is
- Thanksgiving - He has given us so much and all we have is His. Specifically for the school he has provided a wonderful committed, loving staff, facilities and tools to instruct, finances to run the school and plan for the future, and a wonderful Maranatha Family that we can walk this journey together.
- Requests - for our world and all those that are called to respond to Him. Our nation that it would turn back to God and let Him be our sovereign ruler. For our State and its leaders as they deal with financial challenges and key human rights and privileges issues. For our school as we seek to provide means to arm our children with a Christian worldview that prepares them to defend their faith.
I trust you will devote some time today before the Lord - hopefully in community with others - in lifting our worship, thanksgiving and requests to Him.
- Worship - recognize Him for who He is
- Thanksgiving - He has given us so much and all we have is His. Specifically for the school he has provided a wonderful committed, loving staff, facilities and tools to instruct, finances to run the school and plan for the future, and a wonderful Maranatha Family that we can walk this journey together.
- Requests - for our world and all those that are called to respond to Him. Our nation that it would turn back to God and let Him be our sovereign ruler. For our State and its leaders as they deal with financial challenges and key human rights and privileges issues. For our school as we seek to provide means to arm our children with a Christian worldview that prepares them to defend their faith.
I trust you will devote some time today before the Lord - hopefully in community with others - in lifting our worship, thanksgiving and requests to Him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)