Posts Tagged ‘Trials’

During and after the Christmas celebrations, many people take some time to look back at year soon to pass recalling the events that have occurred. This recollection can happen on a personal level or it can happen on a corporate level. As the Administrator of Valley Christian School looking back over this past year, it was a year with some major changes and challenges.

Steve Suther, in an article entitled, “Mixed Blessings”, notes that these changes “could be considered blessings in disguise.” Many times, he goes on to state, “challenges… can force you to make decisions you resist in better times.” These decisions, as with any decision, have a risk factor, an unknown component that up until that moment has prevented the decision to be made. On the flip side though, Mr. Suther points out through some examples that there may be some hidden benefits, blessings that may outweigh the perceived and apparent risks involved in making the tough decision.

One of the challenges that Valley Christian School faced this past year was securing a site to operate from for the 2009-10 school year. The facility committee worked for some months looking at a number of potential sites resulting in a dead end. Apprehension and frustration mounted as time pressed on. Resolution finally came when the committee returned to the first site considered for a second look.

The challenges facing the committee in the site selection boiled down to usable space, the price to obtain and get the space to point where it could be used for educational purposes, and the location of the site. Many of the sites that committee looked at had adequate space, but to make the space usable for educational purposes was beyond the available budget, thus eliminating the site from further consideration. Location played in the committee’s actions when it was understood that shifting the location of the school in any one direction too much would place a significant additional travel burden to one or more of the families currently attending Valley Christian School. Our current location has its own set of challenges that day by day we work through.

The benefits and blessings of the challenge of moving Valley Christian School continue to be realized. The first benefit of this challenge was the coming together of the parent body to call upon God Almighty for direction and wisdom. This unity of purpose and dependence upon God continues to be evident in the parent body, students, and staff. The material accumulated for the past 30 years was sorted and organized. Having essentially a thorough “house-cleaning” has been refreshing – like a new start. The new location has forced a re-thinking of the teaching methodology due to the differences in space allocation. This re-thinking called into question those practices that were “sacred cows,” but not necessarily the best for ensuring student educational growth – our ultimate goal. The new site has better curb appeal than the old site. The move also involved moving across a state boundary. This added twist has caused the updating of many of the legal documents for the school which without the move would have not seen much attention.

As Mr. Suther notes, the challenges, the trials that one faces personally or corporately could hold a host of benefits that up to that point were unknown. We know as believers in Christ, God in His infinite wisdom knows what is best for us and what is needed for our timely growth.

Suther, Steve, “Mixed Blessing”, Midwest Ag Journal, December 21, 09