Friday Focus

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. --Lamentations 3:21 (NLT)

Are You Giving Your Child Safety Tips?

Although you think they may 'know it all" about being safe, middle school children need additional advice about staying safe. Here’s a quick quiz to see if you’re providing this. Give yourself five points for something you do often, zero points for something you never do--or any score in between.

___ 1. I ask my child to stay with a trusted adult of buddy when she’s not at home.
___ 2. I explain that my child should get out of situa- tions that feel dangerous.
___ 3. I encourage my child to report experiences of people that worry her.
___ 4. I role-play with my child so she can practice safety skills.
___ 5. I tell my child to trust her instincts about people and situations.
___ 6. I monitor my child’s online activity.

How did you do? Twenty or above is good. Fifteen to 19 is average. Below 15? Use the ideas in this quiz to improve your child’s safety.

Learn more about how to keep your kids safe...

Encourage Reading!

Relating to books helps kids enjoy the books more. Ask your child questions about the books he reads, such as, “What would you do in that situation?" "Which character do you like most or least--and why?" Say, "If you were the author, what would you change in the story?"

Looking for some ideas on how to choose books for kids?

Check out...

Photos from Christmas Performances

Photos from the school Christmas concert and performance at the MCP Christmas party are now online and available for viewing. Check on the left menu of the home page.

SFAS website...

Fresh Mercies for the New Year

The possibility for fresh starts has always been important to me. Did your fall semester in middle school, college, or graduate school end on a low note? The spring semester that starts in a few days is a new beginning for you.

Was last year a tough one at work? Did you lose a job? Have to move your family from a place everybody really liked to a new location? One way to cope is to think of what you can gain rather than what you’ve lost. Focus on what to learn from the experience to help you move forward. Make some new friends.

Is an important relationship in trouble? Did someone you love die? Are you worried about the “bad-attitude" friends your child has made? Maybe you need to look at these things through fresh eyes and with hope.

A sense of brokenness is often the mandatory first step to renewal and healing. So it isn't a bad thing to lament our losses. But it is a terribly bad thing to spend the rest of your life looking over a shoulder to the past instead of lifting your eyes to the future. It can be fatal to the spirit.

As you might expect in light of all this, the turning of the calendar to a new year is a big deal to me. Doesn't the idea of a clean slate appeal to you too? Doesn't the chance to start over sound great? But I'm not necessarily suggesting that you make a long list of New Year's Resolutions. In fact, I'm against it.

Long lists are intimidating and frustrating. Most resolutions are too vague – reduce stress, save more money, be more helpful at home. And the notion of pledging to do something for 365 days is tough on people who are honest about just how often failure visits them. Perhaps there is a better way.

Remember the advice Jesus gave about just taking care of today and not biting off tomorrow's troubles? "Each day has challenges enough of its own!" he said. Think about it, and you will realize that your own experience confirms it.

In the context of that statement, Jesus gave this counsel: "Strive above all else for the reign of God in your life, and the things that have been worrying you will resolve!" God's reign requires conscious surrender. Not of the entire year but of today's trouble, this stress, or a particular loss. Not of the other person but of my attitude toward her. Not of yesterday's failure so much as today's opportunity.

New Year 2007 is God's mercy to you. With His presence a reality and in one-day-at-a-time surrender to him, creative new things will come out of the waste-and-void chaos of the past. And life can be fresh every morning.

--Rubel Shelly