Sometimes we are so in the middle of what we are doing and wrapped up in the details that it is hard for us to step back and be thankful for the daily, magnificent things that are happening all around us. I really appreciated the thoughts that Arlyn Schaap, principal at Orange City Christian School in Orange City, Iowa put together in a summary paper as part of the CSI Christian Distinctives online course that recently concluded. He has graciously allowed me to share them here.
I am grateful to God for classrooms where faith integration and teaching the whole child is alive and well. I have an opportunity to observe many classrooms through the course of each school year. I am thankful for teachers who help students stand in awe of God and what he has done. I rejoice with teachers when former students make profession of faith and give testimony to their walk with the Lord. I am thankful for teachers who spend time discussing how to discipline a student without breaking his spirit. I have seen students ponder over DNA and marvel at how great and wonderful God has created each person. I have seen students rush to school to see if any eggs have hatched and how many chicks have been able to break their shell to become a part of the wonderful world around us. I have seen students so eager for their grandparents to come to school so they could show them the poem they had written about their grandparents as part of the extended family God has given them. Praise God for Christian teachers who have been given the craft of teaching Christianly!
nurturingfaith.wordpress.com 
I’mgrateful that Christian education can help equip the next generation. I’m glad that at our school, students are learning how to love their neighbors and to love God, including with them minds. I just finished walking the hallways and saw students focused on research, discussing literature, and improving their reading skills—3 things which equip them to impact the world for Christ.
Creation has always provided moments of awe for me. And sometimes taking the time to look produces new insights of wonder and beauty. I saw a series of pictures the other day taken by a man in New Jersey who painstakingly photographed the position of the sun each month through an entire year, and recorded the resulting “analemma” (the name for the beautiful figure-8 pattern formed by the sun’s movement). You can view it here: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071204.html
Psalm 19:1 comes alive again.
I am very thankful that I am able to experience a christian education I think it has help me to grow in ways that I can’t even imagine. I think that started in a public school and then going into a christian school has really help me to appreciate it more becuase I see the changes and the differences between the two.
You’ve done it once more. Amazing post!