To Everything There Is A Season

A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven

A blog about raising a young family and keeping Christ at the center of it.



The Cyrs

The Cyrs
Photo Credit: Rachel Dewhurst

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

A Time to Pray for Change

'Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.' ~Jos. 1:9

The end of the school year is coming upon us and for most of us it is a welcomed sight! No more packing school lunches, making sure homework is done, activities slow down (theoretically) and we can look forward to the lazy days of summer. I don't know how you feel, but I love having my children home for the summer. It’s with the end of the year approaching that I have been thinking about public school, its students and our teachers a lot.


We hear and read so many articles about 'public school' and these days most of them are not singing it's praises. I've written before about the "why" we put our kids in public school and what some of the misconceptions are with regard to God being in the school. (Link: A Time for Public School.) While I do believe what I wrote in that post is still relevant and needs to be understood, there are so many other things that have people abuzz these days with regard to public school. I am not interested in getting into the issues of public school. The majority of us know what they are. Some people have an accurate understanding of what is going on and others are very misinformed and have a skewed understanding. To this, I will only say that if you are genuinely concerned for public school and the welfare of the student's then please, find articles from unbiased sources. Don't just go looking for articles from sources that support your negative thinking of public school; be willing to hear the other side.

There are innocent victims in this war on public school. The teachers who give of themselves sacrificially to teach our children because they DO care become casualties of this war. A couple news articles about teachers who do harmful things to students or who have off-base ideas about education are not the norm and we need to have sense enough to recognize that. The majority of teachers are teachers for all the right reasons. Every time we make a choice to put down public school we are doing so much more than criticizing our Government and the curriculum they've chosen. We are criticizing every teacher and every student and every family who make up these public schools. We are making a choice to speak negatively about a career that thousands of people have spent their lives devoted to. And when I say devoted I mean DEVOTED. Unless you witness firsthand what a public school teacher has to go through when these changes arise and the tears of frustration they shed over what they know is detrimental to the students learning and yet they stick around because they truly love the kids then you have no idea how hurtful  negative attitudes toward public school are. 

The other victims are the students themselves. Do you think they care about words like 'Common Core'? No they don't. They just want to go to school, make some friends, learn some stuff and have fun. Every time we criticize public school we are putting down these innocent students....who are remarkable children by the way. Christians, I would ask that you stop speaking as though children in the public school are bad kids and will negatively influence your dear innocent children. You do realize your own child has a sin nature just like every other child and could just as easily negatively influence the public school kids, right? And how do you know that a public school child won't POSITIVELY influence your child?  Parents need to understand this and stop instilling the idea that as Christians we should fear the public school and those within its walls.

My heart is burdened for public school; don't misunderstand. I know things are seriously wrong with our education system and I know our Government does not have the best interest of our children in mind. I also know that change does not happen by running away in fear. Many of the people who are speaking out in anger over what is going on in our schools sadly are doing only that; talking. It takes a whole lot more than talking badly about something to turn things around. 


To end I'd like to offer some advice from a family who is in the trenches: PRAY. Instead of criticizing people for keeping their kids in the school use that energy and pray for our public schools, its teachers, the students and their families. Pray for our Government and the leaders implementing these changes. PRAYER most certainly changes things so let’s take that negative energy being directed at the public school and turn it into positive energy by praying for change. Also, if you happen to come across a teacher this summer, THANK them for their willingness to invest in America's future.

***To my fellow Christians who are in the trenches with us, here is a book recommendation for you. I have gleaned valuable information from it!****

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