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Hi Families,
At the end of last week, I saw something that said “Only 15 Fridays to Christmas!” and was completely taken aback. In fact, I didn’t believe it, pulled open my calendar and actually counted. Sure enough, 15 Fridays until Christmas. Wild. It’s funny to me how we count time, and track it. 1 year doesn’t seem like a lot. 365 days does. 1 week goes by quickly and a two hour meeting can be long. I find myself reflecting on this today, not because it’s 15 Fridays until Christmas, but rather because the importance of how we use and celebrate our time matters. In the past eight school days, I have intentionally spent time in every classroom, been out at recess, sat in the church, read along in Ms. Niemi’s class as they read Hatchet, played 4- Corners with 4th grade, climbed on the big toy with 1st recess, sat on a tricycle with preschool, and played rhythm sticks in music class with our kindergarten and Ms. Sager. I have learned new math skills in middle school math, sharpened color pencils in EDC, and have talked with kids more times than I can count, about their experiences at OLG, especially with those who are new. Our specialists have done this too. Our office team, support staff and VP have done so as well. And our teachers, despite taking the time learning their own students’ names, building routines and structures, are doing this same “get to know you” with other students too. In our day to day, working at a school, we get to invest our hearts and our time into building relationships with the people that will shape our tomorrow, that bring hope into the world, and remind us that there is such tremendous joy and light.
Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. Not a single child, and now, even some staff members in our building were alive. Personally, I recall it like it was yesterday, a marker in time that will forever live in my head, and my heart. For me, it was a catalyst for the kind of life I wanted to lead as an adult; one that had purpose, intention and meaning, and one that was focused on serving and giving back to the world-- leaving it better than I found it. I knew, that how I wanted to spend my time as an adult mattered. It is my hope that our children will count time in a way that matters. That we don’t just count down the days, but focus on the good that’s accomplished in the time that we have, in the relationships we build, and the way in which we move through the world. It is my hope, 24 years from now, when 8,760 days have passed us by, we live in a world that is safe, proactive to violence, filled with greater love, and with people who care deeply and humanely about others, and with people who seek to make the world just a little better than we found it.
So yes, it’s 15 Fridays until Christmas. But rather than focus on that, let us make all the days and hours in between count, and make those weeks count. Make our time matter. Let us bring abundant light today, and tomorrow and always. Christ's birth celebrates Him as the Light of the World. It is my hope that we too, can model the same, for all our world to see.
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