Friday Focus

Make the time count--find creative ways to build a stronger relationship with your child.

Strong Relationships Boost School Success

The older students get the more they scream for independence. But connections with parents make kids feel good about themselves. This helps them in school and throughout life. As trying as it can sometimes be, continue to build strong relationships with your child. Consider doing these things:

• Eat at least one meal a day together.
• Have media "blackouts." One night a week, turn off TVs, computers, iPods, and cell phones. Play board games, sing, read... or maybe just talk with your kids!
• Check in. When your child expresses her feelings, restate what she said to make sure you understood.
• Count your blessings. Make it a habit to discuss the best things that happen to you each day.
• Have family meetings. Give your child a say in things that affect her.
• Plan one-on-one time. Once a week, spend an hour with your child alone. Do something she wants to do.
• Send your child letters, notes, or emails. Keep them friendly and positive.
• Tell your child that you love and appreciate her!

June Prayer Breakfast

Sunday, June 4, 7-9 AM. Prayer is the time we can thank God for all He's done, and bring our requests to Him. Have you ever prayed with a group of people for two hours? If so, then you already know about the blessing that awaits you. If not, then why not join the dozens of other people that are experiencing the power of prayer? Join the area churches here at our school at 7 AM sharp. Oh, and there's a great breakfast to follow. See you there!

Directions to SFAS...

June Board Meeting

Because we had so few board members present at our meeting this past week, we will be having our June School Board meeting at 9:00 AM on June 4. Please get the word out to other board members in your church. I look forward to seeing you at school on Sunday morning, June 4.

Spring Fling and Art Show

Photos from the May 7 Spring Fling and Art Show are now on the SFAS website.

View photos here...

Secrets of "The Jesus Code"

I'm sure I wasn't supposed to have heard the conversation. But I really wasn't eavesdropping. Here's what happened--on that dark and stormy night...

"What do you think of Christianity?" asked Lee Teabag.

"Ah, Christianity!" said the mysterious voice. "It hasn't turned out the way its founder envisioned. Jesus never meant for it to be a long list of rules and a set of complex doctrines. He didn't die to finance big church buildings and put crocodile-tear hucksters on TV and damage sensitive people with heavy doses of guilt."

"But I thought the nastier and guiltier we felt, the better," chimed in Sophie Oldview. "Since I was a little girl at church, I've sung about what a 'wretched worm' I am and gone to the Halloween house to have hell scared out of me."

"Oh, Sophie!" came the voice. "That isn't the message Father God sent his Beloved Son to give the world! Don't you remember how he treated outcasts? Don't you recall his 'dinner with a sinner' program that so scandalized the clergy? Don't you remember the woman 'caught in the act' and how kind he was to her?"

"I guess I thought he just had a few moments of weakness," she said.

"Weakness? Yes, that's it Sophie! You've just stumbled onto a key concept of Christianity as it was meant to be!" said a now-ardent voice. "God made himself weak for you. And poor and vulnerable. He did what nobody could ever have imagined God doing before Jesus' time. He became poor so others could be rich, became weak so you could have power, and died to give you life!"

"So you actually think we've missed the point of faith?" mused Teabag.

"Only by a few bazillion light years!" the excited voice declared. "Could I trust you to tell the truth to others? Give you the secret of 'The Jesus Code'?"

"But the clergy! And the people they've already duped!" gasped Sophie.

"I know. I know only too well!" said the now-sad voice. "They 'hung me out to dry' when I first broke the news many years ago that God wants a relationship with people that will change their relationships with one another. That he wants to be a Parent to them and make them into a loving family for each other. That the proof of their conversion would be thriving communities of peace and joy and love--not exclusive religious clubs where judgment and fear and meanness reign."

"You really want us to tell people something so radical?" groaned Teabag.

"Maybe it is asking too much," said the voice in its final utterance to the pair. "They might reject and kill you--just like they did me at Calvary."

--Rubel Shelly