Dear Students and Families,

Welcome to a new week. I hope you have a nice Monday, March 23, 2020. We hope you have a good week. The format of this daily assembly is still taking shape, but, we will seek to have an email to you each morning. Below is our video for today. And as you can see, I still haven't mastered the thumbnail.
It is Still Well
For our morning hymn we are going to sing It is Well one more time. On Friday we had a bonus question about the hymn for our Grammar School students. Why is 'Even So' in the fourth verse in quotation marks?

Congratulations to Stella Ryan (4th grade) for having the right answer. It is a quotation from the second to last verse of the bible. (The penultimate verse for the linguistically adventurous.) It is only clear in certain translations like the King James Version:

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Even so , come, Lord Jesus. – Rev 22:20.

So we invite your family to sing along with our faculty quartet featuring Mr. Maurer, Mrs. Armetta, Mr. Grim, and Miss Munson, and to reflect on the great plea of the Church to Jesus' promise to return, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll.
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say,
'It is well, it is well with my soul.'

It is well . . .

Tho' Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed His own blood for my soul."

It is well . . .

My sin – O, the bliss of this glorious tho't – 
My sin – not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well . . .

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall re-sound and the Lord shall descend,
'Even so' - it is well with my soul

It is well . . .

Non Nobis
Our Grammar School students normally sing our school song, Non Nobis during morning assembly each day. We invite you to sing along with our faculty quartet as you start your day.

Non nobis, Domine
non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.
– Psalm 115:1


Wisdom and Courage
This time of increased family togetherness is a great time to heed the counsel from Andy Crouch's Tech Wise Family to reclaim the household as the primary place where we are formed as persons. In God's design, our families are the place where we are best known and cared for, and a primary place where we acquire wisdom and courage.

The habit of reading the chapter from the book of Proverbs that corresponds to the day of the week is also a great way to grow in wisdom. From chapter 23 in today's reading, I highlighted the following verses for our students.(v. 12, 15-18)

Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.
My inmost being will exult
when your lips speak what is right.
Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.

An excellent resource to parents as you seek to help your children to grow in wisdom in their studies is The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory. This is a book that I often return to and that our faculty have studied at various times. Milton's Second Law ties in well with Proverbs 23:12. It is called "the law of the learner" and he states that "the learner must attend with interest to the fact or truth to be learned." He contrasts "compelled" and "attracted" attention. In the former, "the face may take on the look of attention, but the mind wanders to more winsome objects." We've all been there!

Attracted attention, in contrast, is "alert with desire and eager for gratification. It is mental hunger seeking its food, and delighting itself as at a feast. Unconscious of exertion, it gathers strength from its efforts, and scarcely knows fatigue." (p. 39). I hope that our students will grow more and more into these kind of learners that Gregory describes.

If you are looking for tested and proven wisdom about helping students become lovers of learning, The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory is a great place to start.
I hope you have a great day growing in wisdom and courage.

Christ > Coronavirus = Peace

Blessings,
Dr. Sonju
Head of School