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Principal´s Blog
Before I Explode
posted May 08, 2012 by Daniel Dunbar
I am writing today because I fear that if I do not, my heart will explode. I have just come from the eighth grade Bible class where Pastor Sturge Gorham shared the heart of God with each of us there in Mr. Braganza's mathematics classroom. The anointing of the Spirit of God was so thick in that room that you could have cut it with a knife. You know how the Bible say that the Word of God is quick and powerful like a two-edged sword? That was the reality this morning, because the Word was incredibly piercing and Pastor Sturge held nothing back as he spoke to us about being salt and light and being what this world needs, since every human on the planet has a hole in his heart that can only be filled with the eternal love of God. He challenged us all to remember the Creator in the days of our youth and to care about somebody's soul now, today. God asks us, "Do you know who you are?" and tells us, "You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world." We don't need what the world offers us, but the world desperately needs what we have been given by God to offer to the human race.
I sat in my chair thinking, "If only the parents of these students could see and hear this. Just this alone is worth the price of tuition." And then I thought about the seventh grade Bible class I witnessed yesterday being taught by Pastor Hadley and the senior Leadership class being taught yesterday by Pastor Lange and I knew then that I would be sitting here now trying to find the words to express how divinely blessed we are here at GGCA. The richness of the Bible teaching and spiritual investment that occurs daily here in our school defies words that can measure scope and value. My heart can only cry out, "Thank you, Father! Your love for us is so vast and so pure and you pour it out like an endless waterfall through your servants here in the classrooms."
God loves us. God is for us. God is with us.
God is all we need.
He Is Risen, Indeed
posted Apr 04, 2012 by Daniel Dunbar
I am very tired today as I write this, so if it does not make the best sense or if my writing is riddled with typos, you know why. I have been appearing as Jesus in the Greater Grace Church Easter play each night this week in addition to working as principal at Greater Grace Christian Academy during the day. I love playing Jesus. My desire is to make him real and human - somebody that people would want to know more. I am blessed when people tell me that they would like to think that Jesus is the way I portray him.
I am also blessed by the GGCA students and graduates who are part of this production. They are running lights, doing costumes and make-up, acting, playing music, singing, and working on the stage crew. I entrust my "dead" body into the strong arms of Paul Andrulonis and Charlie Weyer, and I feel quite secure in their care. Kimmy Andrulonis, Morgan Lincoln, and Danielle Bednez help transform me from a crucified Jesus into a living, ministering Jesus in less than seven minutes. Matt Roberge provides me with light, Liz Groenewold makes me smile with her "Hosanna!" dance, and Susanna Tanguay sings a song that makes me want to rise from the dead. I get to eat a Last Supper with Tom Colban, Than Zucker's drumming heralds the stone rolling away from the Garden Tomb, and Grace Castro helps set the stage for Jesus' scenes.
I did not know that I would be playing this role until three days before the first performance, and I am very thankful for everyone who has helped me by welcoming me into the cast and taking care of me. Jesus was about thirty-three years old when he died on the cross for our sins, and I haven't been that old for a while now. I know that God is carrying me through this production in the palms of his nail-scarred hands as believers lift me up in their prayers. I am also especially thankful for the staff and students of GGCA who have been so supportive during this time. I was very sick last week and I am still getting over the virus I contracted, but I received beautiful get well cards and reports of prayers being lifted up for me by students all week long. I am a very blessed man.
Thank you to everyone who prayed that my beard would grow in three days. It did - well, at least enough to see that I have some hair on my face. If you are reading this and it is still not Easter yet, make sure you come see our play. We have three more performances: April 5, 6, and 7 at 7:30 PM. You can find more information about the play at ggwo.org.
He is risen!
Spring Break 2012
posted Mar 05, 2012 by Daniel Dunbar
And so it begins.
March break is here and I am reveling in the quietness that comes when there are no other staff or students in the school. I am wearing jeans and and a roll neck sweater, I haven't shaved, and I rolled in to work when I felt like coming in after waking up when I wanted to. If only all work days were like this one...
We have been looking forward to this break for some time now since God has not seen fit to bless us with any snow days (or even snow delays) this school year. It is my hope that a week away from school will help the students grow less familiar with each other and that the teachers will catch a second or third wind, and that the stomach flu virus will run its course outside of the school walls.
I was listening to the radio yesterday and I heard a report about how in France the school all close down for two weeks around this time so that families can all go on ski vacations. Two weeks for skiing! I am thinking that if families are going to the mountains to ski, mothers and fathers must also be taking time off, and that the country must slow down a little bit to relax with all the schools closed and workers taking vacations.
Do we have anything like this in our country? We take off days here and there, one at a time, but we don't have any extended holidays where the country takes a collective break, do we? I remember a few weeks ago Pastor Schaller made a comment in a staff meeting about Presidents Day, how he woke up and then just sat up in his bed for an hour doing nothing and then spent another hour in bed doing very little, and then realized that he had no where he had to be and had nothing that he really had to do, and how relaxing that was. He asked, "Do we have to wait for next Presidents Day for that to happen again?"
Sometimes it is difficult for us to simply be still. There is an exercise that is done to see how people experience time. A leader asks a group to put their heads down and close their eyes and then tells them to raise their hands when they think a minute has passed. Most people raise their hands long before a minute has gone by, because being still can feel like an eternity when you are used to constant stimulation and doing things. We are uncomfortable being alone with our thoughts. Praying for five minutes can feel like five hours in a quiet room.
Jesus took time to be away from his disciples, spending quiet time in communion with God the Father. Jesus was a man on a mission, but he took time to fellowship with his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany. He walked to get to where he was going. He sat beside a well to talk to one woman who happened along and when the crowds got to be too much, he hopped into a boat and went sailing with his friends. He was always about his Father's business, and it seems to me that part of that business included taking time away from public ministry to rest and conduct private ministry.
So that is why I am enjoying my quiet time here at school today, taking some moments to write this down for all of you who may be reading it. Don't be like me and feel guilty about not working all the time. Take some time to recharge your physical and spiritual batteries, time to be alone, time to be with those friends and family who need you, time to be around people you need too.
Be Strong and Courageous
posted Feb 24, 2012 by Daniel Dunbar
I can't believe that the temperature is supposed to be nearly 70 degrees today. This is the month of February, after all, and we are supposed to be dealing with sleet, snow, and bitter cold, not balmy weather. All of our students' prayers for a snow day have come to naught, but they have had two days off this week, one thanks to Presidents Washington and Lincoln and the other thanks to parent teacher conferences. The dearth of snow days hasn't harmed us one bit. We are all relatively healthy in body, mind, and spirit, and we aren't playing catch-up for missed classes and scrambling to re-schedule basketball games and field trips. Greater Grace Christian Academy is chugging right along like a train steadily making its way down the tracks toward June and the final days of the school year.
We have much to accomplish between now and June 4th. Besides completing our academic courses and finishing sports seasons, we have concerts, a high school banquet, a spring fundraiser, several graduations, standardized testing, a field day, field trips, and faculty professional development days to get through. Our plates are full. By the time school ends in June, we will be ready for a breather, so that we can recover and regroup our forces for the school year beginning in September.
Considering everything that needs to be done can be daunting if all these things are put on the plate at once, but the truth is that we only have to put a little on our plates at one time. Thank goodness I do not have to swallow all of these tasks in one sitting, and I don't have to dine alone. Life can be overwhelming if you think about it in its entirety. A person can get stressed out if he thinks he must bear everything alone and bear it all at once. Fortunately, we believers have God who offers to carry all of our cares for us, who tells us not to worry about the future, but focus on what He has given us to do that day with His divine provisions and strength at our disposal.
I think of students who, for one reason or another, fall behind in school and begin to wilt in the face of what appears to them to be an insurmountable mountain of schoolwork to make up so that they can be on par with their classmates. The unhealthy stress, the fear that all is lost and cannot be recovered can lead to meltdowns, shutdowns, and physical issues. It is very important that parents and teachers help these students to see that they, too, need God's help to get them through this difficult time, and that with His help and the help and encouragement of parents and teachers, the hard work will pay off.
I read a quote from Zig Ziglar yesterday that said, "A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could." Encouragement is so important in our lives and in the lives of our children. Pastor Love has been speaking the past two weeks in chapel on the story of David facing the loss of all his people's women and children to the Amalekites at Ziklag. David, facing stoning at the hands of his own men in their grief, encouraged himself in the Lord. Pastor Love said that we all need to learn how to encourage ourselves in the Lord, since there will be times when there will be nobody else around who will encourage us.
As parents and educators, we need to be encouraging for each other and for our students, and all of us, students included, need to be learning how to encourage ourselves in the Lord, the same Lord who told Joshua, "Be strong and courageous." We need God's strength and courage to face difficulties and challenges in life. I think if we teach our children this truth, there is no telling how far they can go in life - they may go further than they thought they could!
Decisions, Decisions
posted Feb 03, 2012 by Daniel Dunbar
I cannot believe that an entire month has passed by without my writing a blog entry. Such neglect on my part! I apologize to any of you who have been waiting for a new post. Today I will make amends by writing about something dear to my heart - our GGCA students
First and foremost, understand that each GGCA student is an inestimable treasure, most certainly in your eyes, but also in ours, and we thank you for entrusting your treasure with our school. It is like you have entrusted us with your treasure and we are the stewards working to produce a return on your investment by investing in each child ourselves. We aren't going to be like the steward in the parable who wrapped the talent entrusted to him in a napkin and buried it. No. We are going to do our best with all we have to work in partnership with you to help bring you child to his or her full potential.
Of course, the difference between a financial investment and a human investment is that the human investment has a mind and will of its own and must actively participate to bring about the desired outcomes. Simple dollars and cents passively submit to whatever we choose to do with them and are more predictable than any complex, living, breathing child. As parents and educators, we have a great and wonderful challenge before us to train up children in the way they should go in the hope that when the children are older they will not depart from the character and truth we have tried to instill them.
We have come to that time of year where some students have become weary of school and have stopped actively participating in their education. For some, their poor habits have caught up with them and they are now experiencing the consequences of what they have and have not done. I was reading from 1 Samuel this morning about the coronation of Saul and king of Israel, and the people realized that God was displeased with their decision to have a human king reign over them, and they were unhappy and afraid. Samuel stood up and told the people that they had a choice; Either to turn their backs on God or to follow Him. We all have the same choice in our lives when faced with our failures and shortcomings: Do we get angry with God, our boss, our parents, our teachers, our spouses and turn our backs on them to pursue empty ways that cannot deliver us? Or do we humble ourselves under God's hand and serve Him with all our hearts and watch Him do great things for us?
I love it when I see a student who owns his mistakes and has a change of heart and spirit and allows himself to be taught the good and right way. That is what we are working to instill in every GGCA student - the Christian character that rebounds by grace and wholeheartedly strives for great things through Christ. I believe that GGCA is a place where lives can be changed - transformed - by the quality of academic, spiritual, creative, and physical education that is provided here. You have made a wise decision to place your child in this school and only heaven will show the eternal fruit of that decision. God bless you!