My girls!

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. (Psalm 127:3 NIV)

I love my daughters. At this point in my life, my grandkids get all the "press". It's not fair comparing grandkids to your own children. It's a totally different relationship. I know many grandparents, including myself, that just can't get enough of their grandkids. I've never heard my daughters complain, but really we grandparents almost neglect our own kids.

I can't express enough the love I have for my daughters. I feel for them when they hurt and share their joys. I am filled with pride about the people they have become. It's not easy having one live in St. Louis and another life in Mississippi. I miss seeing those two every day. But in reality the other lives an hour away and it is even tough to see her as much as I would like. 

If God uses kids to reward us, I feel like I've received the Nobel prize. I am blessed to have such a great family, a heritage that thrills my heart. Praise God for these wonderful blessings. I pray constantly that they are protected and are blessed by the creator of this universe. Thank you Lord for these wonderful ladies!

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. (1 John 3:1 MSG)

I love being a teacher. I get to see, first hand, some really great kids. I'm not their father, but I am just as proud. It is common, and has been for decades, to look at our youth in negative terms. Old people compare the youth of today to their past. It's easy to look back 30 or more years and only remember the great things. One of the things I enjoy most about young people is their idealism. They truly believe they can solve the worlds problems. As adults, we just don't take them seriously. I get to see first hand what goes through their minds and I am optimistic about what they can accomplish.

Christians are very similar to the youth of today. A lot of people just don't take us seriously. They don't believe in the power of the Love of Jesus Christ. They scoff at our idealism. They are skeptical of our service attitude. They can't believe people would actually extend a helping hand without reward.

We need to continue to share that childlike love with the lost. We need to hold on to that teenage idealism of saving the world. Our Father is proud of us and loves us even when we fail. We need to do the same with our youth. We need to encourage them, laugh with them, and give them every opportunity to get the most out of life. The example of our own lives can be the life that leads them to Christ. If we can get enough of our youth to come to that saving relationship with Christ, they truly will save the world.

Innocence: Teach your Children Well!

Romans 16

 ¹⁷ I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. ¹⁸ For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. ¹⁹ Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

One of my grand daughters is spending the weekend with us. I just love having her here. I always enjoy having them visit and stay with us. After living for 51 years and witnessing the good and the bad in life, it is fun being able to spend time with someone who has not been tainted by the world. I love the innocence of children. As parents, as grandparents, as educators, one of greatest callings is to preserve that innocence as long as we can. We are to protect them from evil. We want them to know as much good as we possibly can. We want them to know of the good in this world, not the evil. 

God wants us to be wise of the good around us. God wants us to know of the good within us. God wants us to be innocent of evil. As Christians, we have a choice to dwell on all that is wrong with the world, our world, or we can dwell on the goodness. It seems that evil in this world is growing and it is easy to get wrapped up in it. The times can seem to be hopeless. But, we know that our Good and Holy God is in control and there is hope in him. God is Great. He wants us to be innocent as children, as grandchildren.

Thank You Lord for your love. Thank you for your hope. Protect us from evil. Protect the innocence we have remaining in our lives. Amen!

Focus on your Kids!

Luke 1:17-19 (New International Version, ©2010)

¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
 ¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
 ¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.


Education has taken some real hits lately. Our profession gets the blame for everything. From the standpoint of the media, we make too much money, (in the past few years their are very few industries who have laid off as many as in the education), we are lazy, and the down fall of our society is our fault.  The high drop out rate is completely because we don't teach in an "entertaining" method so kids will want to come to school. In my job, they think we put too much emphasis on sports and extracurriculars. Our society thinks we should be able to make every kid a college graduate with a Doctorate in Mathematics. But, I see one of the largest contributing factors in our poor academic success is the lack of parental support for our students.

As a High School Administrator, i get to see a lot of kids every day who have absolutely no positive parental support. I haven't taken any professional surveys or made in big movie documentaries, but I see kids every day who have absolutely no support from home. I'm not talking about parents who come in and say their kids don't do anything wrong. I'm talking about parents who won't hold kids responsible for doing homework, won't make kids come to school, won't come to get to know the teaching staff, won't enforce curfews to make sure kids get proper sleep, and won't return phone calls when staff call about problems or issues. I'm talking about parents who have let drugs and alcohol take over their lives. I'm talking about parents who care more about their next husband or wife than holding their kids responsible for poor decisions. Just like with teachers, their are some great parents out there and it's not the majority of parents that are like this. But, their are enough like this and worse that it is affecting the success of our educational system.

In this verse, Zachariah is told that his unborn son will "turn the hearts of parents to their children". Even in the time of Jesus, this was an issue. When a society loses the focus of educating the next generation, it is doomed to failure. When we lose sight on this primary goal, the downfall of our nation is not too far behind. As parents, when we commit to having children, we are also committing to raising these kids with all our hearts, soul, and mind. We are not to focus on our jobs, we are not to focus on our career, we are not to focus on our friends, our material needs, or our selfish ambitions. We are too focus on what is best for our kids.

I can't tell you about the hearts of the parents of this country. I can't tell you where the hearts of the thousands of educators across this country are focused. However, I can tell you the focus of Garrett Keyser Butler Schools in Garrett, Indiana. Every single day I hear teachers, administrators, support staff, and coaches ask the question, "What is best for our kids?" We are going to make mistakes in that judgement, from time to time. But, I can tell you we are serious and sincere about doing what is best for our students.  We have a large number of staff who have hearts for God and that helps us focus our hearts on kids. We not only want to prepare our kids for their future, we want to prepare these kids for the Lord.  The job of educating our youth is number one. Everyone needs to work together to make this happen. Parents, Teachers, Community, and Nation!  Together Everyone, Achieves, More!

Dear Lord, Thank you for the gift of children. We know it is an awesome responsibility. We also know that we are not sufficient for the task. But, with your love and guidance we can succeed. We can succeed with our help and with turning our complete attention on our kids. We know your heart is with us. Help us to do as you would have us. We love you and praise your name. Amen!