Friday Ramblings

Hello reader (this is singular because I'm pretty sure only my sister reads this). Tonight is what's known as "Back to School Night" here at VCS, where we invite all the parents to come to school and meet/greet the staff and teachers. It's a pretty cool opportunity for us to connect with parents, and another way the school focuses on welcoming everyone in for another exciting school year. Parents are given their child's daily schedule, and over the span of a couple hours they more or less speed date their way through each class on their kid's schedule. I'm not a teacher, so I don't get to experience this, which is kind of a bummer. I think it would be a blast to meet everyone's parents face to face, and to slap the parents whose kids are kind of annoying. Just kidding, of course. But not really.

So while all the "teacher folk" are hanging with the parents, I came to my office to get some work done. So far I've checked my e-mail and started writing this. Clearly my work week finished several hours ago. Since I'm here, though, I'll throw down some more info about today.

Friday at VCS is chapel day. This is the time that all our secondary students (grades 6-12) get together corporately for some games, praise/worship, and general tomfoolery. It's kind of the Christian school version of a public school assembly, except quite a bit cooler. The last portion of the chapel time is set aside for someone to teach from the Bible, and today I tag-teamed this with Thomas, the school's Chaplain.

Now, I should mention at this point that public speaking really isn't my gig. In most situations I'm not a shy fellow, but when it comes to formal "presentations" in front of crowds I get nerves like Kramer gets gas: bad. I usually try to combat this by over-preparing, and leading up to today's chapel I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what to say, and how to say it. The theme was the "message of reconciliation," as Paul calls it, and we were specifically talking about how the guilt and shame we carry is something God wants to remove from us. Thomas asked me to speak some about my personal testimony, and about how I'm a changed person through what Christ has done in me.

Quick tangent: Like everyone else's, my testimony is cool. I say that because there's no such thing as a boring or pointless testimony. Ironically, it seems like every Christian I know wishes they had a different story of how they found themselves believing and following Jesus--either one more "miraculous" or one more simple that would have left fewer regrets. My opinion? They're all inredible. Any time you're talking about the Lord redeeming someone there's no choice but to be joyful. End tangent.

Anyway, I did my best to plot out my attack plan, even going so far as to lock myself in a bathroom stall today to nail down what I would say. I don't know why I try so hard to prepare like this, as experience has shown me time and again that what I plan to say is never what actually comes out. I chalk this up to either my lack of giftedness in this area or the Holy Spirit doing his thing. I suppose it's a bit of both. I also think it's the Lord's way of keeping me humble. After all, it's hard to think too highly of yourself when you're a nervous wreck and can't even keep your well-planned outline on track.

I was happy to contribute in a small way today. Like always my delivery was far from perfect, and while I'm certainly no expert on the subject, I have screwed up enough times that I'm very familiar with the Lord's grace; I find rest knowing that it's by his wounds I'm healed. There's no place for guilt or shame in my life, or in yours for that matter. That yoke is something we no longer have to bear, and I hope the kids today heard the hope that's offered to them in that.