Noah’s Ark still afloat with Bramley at the helm

I was driving my two year old, Ellen to the babysitter one morning when we had an interesting conversation.

“Where’d Hewen go?” she asked.
“Your sister GRACE is with Mommy, Mommy is driving her to preschool, and by the way, YOUR name is Ellen,” I replied.
“She go schoooowel? Me wan go schooowel,” she said.
“Well, I know you’d love to go to school, but you’re not old enough yet, by the way, how old are you, Ellen?” I quizzed her.
“Me five!” she announced.
“Nooo, you’re two,” I explained, holding up two fingers.
“NO! Me FWIVE!!!” she screamed.
“Honey, listen, calm down, think about it,” I reasoned (temporarily forgetting that reasoning with a two year old is about as smart as trying to train your cat to heard sheep). “Your older sister, GRACE, is only four, and you’re the LITTLE sister, you’re just two, get it?”
“Oh-tay,” she relented.
“So how old are you?” just wanting to make sure I had gotten through.
“ME TWOO!” she grinned and held up two fingers.
I smiled and sighed, apparently I’d gotten somewhere.

I love the fact that she longs to learn and has finally gotten to an age where she’ll slow down long enough to climb on our laps for a us to read to her.
We’re really fortunate that Grace loves school too. Although, many is the evening when we ask “Grace, what did you learn about in school today?” only to have her shrug and answer “things.” I thought that kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen till at least junior high.

Research has established that preschool education can produce substantial gains in children's learning and development. Christian preschools not only give kids a head start, they also lay a foundation of faith and relationships for children.

The Barna Research Institute discovered that a person’s lifelong behaviors and views are generally developed when they are young – particularly before they reach the teenage years. A person’s moral foundations are generally in place by the time they reach age nine (fourth grade). A majority of Americans make a lasting determination about the personal significance of Christ’s death and resurrection by age 12 (seventh grade).

It always boggles my mind when parents proudly proclaim that they’re not forcing their religion on their child, they want them to make up their minds for themselves when they’re old enough. Obviously these parents don’t genuinely believe whatever faith they claim to profess because if you KNOW and BELIEVE that God is real and that the Bible is true, why would you treat that knowledge as if it were merely an option, a choice. We inoculate our children with vaccines to protect them from deadly diseases, why not share with them that God loves them and wants what is best for them while they’re young too?

This is National Lutheran Schools Week. Martin Luther once argued that schools were more important than even homeland security.:
“Even though only a single boy could thereby be trained to become a real Christian, we ought to give a hundred dollars to this cause for every dollar we would give to fight the Turk, even if they were breathing down our necks,” he wrote in a sermon promoting education.
The main reason Luther encouraged parents to make sure their children received an education was so that they could one day read the Bible for themselves and thereby develop a personal relationship with God. That’s a value that Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, and every Christian can appreciate.

Many people remember that St. John Lutheran Church in Charter Oak once had a Lutheran elementary school, but how many realize that they still have a Lutheran school?

St. Johns Lutheran’s preschool, “Noah’s Ark” has been blest by the loving care, and instruction of Mrs. Sandy Bramley since 1981. This Lutheran Schools Week, I want to recognize Sandy for her important work. Sandy has introduced generations of Charter Oak children to Jesus and the Bible. She has started them on their life’s journey of learning and working together. Thank you, Sandy and may God continue to bless the work He does through you.

Lynn Hoffman is someone who also played a major role in Noah’s Ark for many years. If you or one of your children have been a student of Sandy or Lynn over the years, why not send them a note and let them know what a difference they make and what they mean to you?

A great place to grow

6 He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

~Psalm 147: 16-18 (NIV)

Just wanted to give you a little hope that as mean as March may be, this too shall pass and eventually we’ll be mowing the grass!

This is "National Lutheran Schools Week (March 2-8)." The theme this year for Missouri Synod schools is "A Great Place to Grow."

Some of you are wondering why I’m bothering to write about this since some of you are Catholic, Methodist, something else or don’t attend any Church and we don’t really have a Lutheran K-8 in Ute or Charter Oak. The reason I’m bothering is because it’s something very close to my heart, so please give me a chance and read on.

Many of our readers once attended St. John’s Lutheran School in Charter Oak and it left an indelible mark on them. The reason is because it was a great place to grow.

I attended Christ Lutheran School in Phoenix from Kindergarten through eighth grade. I believe that receiving a Christ-centered education gave me solid ethical, intellectual, creative, and social foundation.

Valley Lutheran High was brand new when I was ready for High School, so I didn’t want to take a chance on it,. That may have been a mistake because with 2,600 students Shadow Mountain High School may have been able to offer more programs and resources, but it was unable to offer the individual attention, genuine care and sense of community that Christ Lutheran did.

Because of my work on the school newspaper, in Commercial Art class, and Art Club at S.M., Professor Bill Wolfram of Concordia College in Seward Nebraska recruited me for their Art Department. Seward not only has the best Art program of the ten Concordias nationwide, we have one of the most prestigious departments in the Midwest- even compared to big universities and vocational schools.

Charter Oak seems to have sent a disproportionate number of students to Seward over the years, so the odds favored me finding a spouse from here. Bethany and I got married amidst Charter Oak’s Centennial. After graduation we were called to serve as "Commissioned Ministers of the Gospel: Teachers" at Los Angeles Lutheran Jr/Sr high School.

I admit, at first we felt like God had sent us to Nineveh. Not only did we suffer culture shock, but our apartment was destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake. We were ready to leave before the first year was up, but our pastor there counseled us to tough it out. I’m glad we did.

We didn’t see it as a job, we saw it as a calling, a vocation, a mission and ministry. We didn’t just teach and coach kids, we listened to, cared for, cried with, held, counseled, prayed for and prayed with students from all walks of life. What’s more, our own faiths were nurtured and fed through our fellowship with our fellow faculty members and diverse and dynamic worship opportunities on and off campus. We even saw several students brought to Christ and baptized during our weekly Chapel services.

This year we’re facing some milestones. Because we have been teaching in public schools now for three years, the Church has taken our names of it’s official roster of commissioned teachers. L.A. Lutheran is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, and the last group of student we taught there will be graduating this May.

I don’t know much about Zion Lutheran Elementary in Denison. I do know that it means a lot to me that my daughter Grace is not just learning about letters and colors at Noah’s Ark Pre-School, she is also learning about Jesus’ love for her and how He wants us to love each other.

If the proponents of "bigger is better" ever get their way and we eliminate all the 1A and 2A high schools in Iowa, I hope and pray that the Churches of our communities will consider cooperating in the establishment of a Christian Charter School in Charter Oak.

Martin Luther supported the concept of universal education because he believed that everyone should be taught to read. He believed everyone should read be taught to read so that they can read the Bible for themselves, so that each person can know a personal relationship with the Lord. Whether it’s in a Lutheran, Catholic, or Public School or home schooling, I can think of nothing more important than education.

Please consider contributing to a Lutheran school. It’s tax deductible. Go to www.dcs.lcms.org/school/info.html to find out more. Even if you never take the opportunity to support a Lutheran school financially, PLEASE, encourage your children to value their education no matter what kind of school they go to. And please support their teachers and administrators, support them with prayer, with respect, with time, with your vote, and with appreciation, no matter what kind of school they teach in.