Bear Facts
The Weekly Newsletter of Bethany Lutheran School Long Beach, CA www.bethanylutheran.org Communication+Responsibility+Organization+Service+Sharing Holy Week Worship at Bethany Our middle school students will be leading us in a very special chapel tomorrow, the Stations of the Cross. Each station will be a remembrance of one of the events of Holy Week and Jesus’ journey to the cross for us. I love what one writer, *Dennis Bratcher, had to say about the importance of remembering the events of Holy Week; “The journey that Jesus makes to the cross is not easy. Most such journeys of faithfulness and servanthood are fraught with great risk. There is suffering, and the death is real. It is not the end of the story. But it is part of the journey. If we are to remember the cross honestly, we must remember the entire journey, honestly. There will be a Sunday morning, and we cannot forget that part of the story. But not yet. The journey of the Cross winds through Holy Week, from the singing crowds on Sunday to the darkness of Good Friday. Sunday will come. But not without the journey through Good Friday and the Cross. The journey from Sunday will have little meaning without the journey through Good Friday….in remembering this event by walking the Stations of the Cross we are not just reenacting a 2,000 year old event. We are making our own journey, and in the process confessing our own dependence upon God.” If you are free at 9:00 tomorrow, you are welcome to join us for this special chapel. Blessings on your Holy Week Journey, Dr. Fink *http://www.crivoice.org/stations.html
Maundy Thursday Worship Service Thursday, March 29 at 7:00 PM
Good Friday Worship Services Friday, March 30 at 1:00 & 7:00 PM
Easter Festival Worship Services Sunday, April 1 at 8:00, 9:30 & 10:55 AM EASTER BREAKFAST Hop on over to the gym and enjoy a delicious breakfast before or after church, as Boy Scout Troop 75 will have their Annual Easter Breakfast from 9–11. All are welcome to attend. There will be a free-will donation basket.
Swim and Water Polo Lessons Hello, my name is Casey McClelland and this will be my 19th year teaching swim and water polo! Bethany Lutheran holds a special place in my heart and I am proud to say I am a former student and graduate! I have taught many students over the years who attended Bethany. I am starting lessons May 1st and going through the end of August. I teach private one-on-one lessons in a heated pool for children of all ages and abilities. I specialize in learning to swim, stroke development, strengthening and endurance, water polo techniques, diving, and swim team preparation. I offer classes M-F, 9 am-7 pm daily. I am located in Lakewood Village. Please contact Casey at 562.212.7366 or email me at
[email protected] if interested and to sign-up!
School Bulletin #29 March 27, 2018
Mar. 27-PTL Meeting-6:30 PM-Library-Childcare provided Mar. 28-29 P/T Conferencesminimum days-12:00 dismissal Mar. 30-Good Friday-no school Apr. 1-Easter-He is Risen!! Apr. 2-6 Easter Break Apr. 8-Confirmation Apr. 9-School Resumes Apr. 15-Trinity sings 10:55 Apr. 21-Father/Daughter Dance Apr. 22-Troubadour sings 8:00 Apr. 24-Parent Info Night“The Tech Savvy Parent” 6:30 Apr. 27-School Musical-1:30 and 6:30 PM May 2-4 6th Grade Camp
Remember: School dismisses at noon tomorrow and Thursday. No school on Friday or next week.
+Chapel Leaders+
Mar. 28-Middle SchoolStations of the Cross Apr. 11-Student Council Apr. 18-Mrs. Boerrigter
Chapel is at 9:00 in the church. Parents, you are always welcome to join us for worship.
The FISHin’ Hole Opportunities to Serve
Check with your child’s teacher to see if you can lend a hand with any class projects!
Cook’s Night Out The next Cook’s Night Out will support Bethany’s Mission Alaska Team. It is scheduled for Sunday, April 15 at Soup Plantation.
This month’s chapel offerings will support Habitat for Humanity. This organization began in 1976 with the vision to help those in need of adequate shelter working side by side with volunteers to build decent, affordable houses. The founder of Habitat for Humanity, Millard Fuller, once said, “I see life as both a gift and a responsibility. My responsibility is to use what God has given me to help his people in need.” God bless our cheerful givers!
We’ve had valuable men’s and women’s rings turned in to Lost and Found recently (one after Open House last week.) If you think it might be yours, please contact the School Office with a description. 2018-2019 Tuition Members of Bethany: One child: $610 per month Two children: $1062 per month Three children: $1355 per month Members of the community: One child: $700 per month Two children: $1221 per month Three children: $1557 per month
FATHER DAUGHTER DANCE Kings, knights, and squires, the time is upon us yet again for you to escort your princess to the Father Daughter Dance on Saturday, April 21, from 6-8 pm. Tickets cost $12 per family. All ages are encouraged to attend the dance. Gentlemen, dress to impress your princess! At this royal event, you will enjoy light snacks and beverages, grow in your relationship as father and daughter, and dance the night away. For more information, contact Faustino Munoz,
[email protected].
Tuition Rebates Now Available for Ralphs Shoppers! If you are signed up in the Ralphs Community Rewards program you are now able to get Scrip Tuition Credit for your purchases. The individual donation amounts are now available online. Sign in to your individual account at www.ralphs.com and scroll to the Community Rewards section on your account page. The contribution made based on your purchases is shown in the Community Rewards section. The most recent reward cycle was 12-1-2017 through 2-282018. Print out the amount you earned and turn the printed page in to the school office before April 12. For future rebate reporting print out the Ralphs contribution amount quarterly and turn in to school office. There are two weeks remaining to buy Scrip/gift cards to receive credit for your 2017/2018 Tuition or Tech Fee Rebate. April 12 is the last day that Scrip purchases will be counted for the current Scrip Rebate calculation. Purchases made after April 12 will be credited to your 2018/19 rebate. Ask relatives and friends to purchase Scrip for their everyday shopping to increase your rebate or save for the 8th Grade DC trip. Are you going out for lunch when school is dismissed at noon on March 28 and 29? You can use Scrip/gift cards at many nearby restaurants. We have Carl’s Jr, CPK, Chili’s Chipotle, Fuddruckers, Panera Bread, Red Robin and Subway on hand.
Parent Pages RESOURCES FOR CHRISTIAN PARENTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Confident Humility
T
he media give confusing information about how a child’s sense of confidence develops. We are told that child egos are fragile and need to be constantly supported with praise. Some parents even try to create success for their children by shielding them from any hint of failure. Unfortunately, by doing this, instead of creating confidence, we are creating children even more fragile than we imagined. In spite of what we might think, children develop confidence when they navigate tough situations, and failure is a part of that. Deep down a child knows that an easy success is not as worthwhile as coming back from a failure. So if constant praise does not raise confident children, then should we go the opposite direction? Should we be “putting children in their place” with comments that remind them they are not as smart as they might think they are? Should we nag them about their weaknesses? Should we create struggles for them so they toughen up? That does not make sense! As Christian parents we do not want our children to constantly brag about accomplishments, yet we know it is not good for them to belittle themselves either. What we want for our children is humility. “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5b).
In the Bible verse above, we note that humility is not about the individual. Humility is more about how we treat each other than how we treat ourselves. In fact, a truly humble person is not thinking about himself. The child who frequently brags and the child who frequently complains of personal failure are both in the same category of emotional unhealthiness. Humble children are healthy because the worry of self-worth is not a concern for them.
A godly self-understanding … arises from God’s relationship with your child. A child’s self-understanding has several different aspects. There is self-concept which is a description of oneself. There is self-esteem which is the estimation of how good we are compared to others. And there is self-efficacy which is a view of how effective we are in our environment. Each of these aspects has benefits and pitfalls. For example, a strong sense of self-esteem is what we typically understand as confidence. Confidence will produce more success, but it can also fool us into thinking we can do something we really cannot do. A godly self-understanding is an entirely different thing. This kind of understanding is not dependent on your child’s personal characteristics. Instead it arises from God’s relationship with your child.
Parent Pages • Vol. 17 No. 7 • March 2018 PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
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If self-concept is a child’s understanding of identity, then a Christian child is first and foremost a child of the Heavenly Father — both created and unconditionally loved. Such a child might suffer when facing failure, but will rest comfortably in the knowledge of belonging to God.
The third aspect of self-understanding is self-efficacy, or how we view our ability to change things in our environment. Again, a Christian child is reminded that the ability to get anything done comes through the work of the Spirit. Who we are, how good we are and how effective we are is not about us — it’s about what God does for us. The burden of worrying about ourselves is lifted from our children, and what remains is humility. Here humility is a sign of godly strength and purpose, and not about personal weakness. For an interesting example of godly humility, we can look at Joseph’s story in Genesis. Joseph’s brothers thought he lacked humility because of his dreams. But when we continue with Joseph’s story, we see a person who served God equally well as a slave, as a prisoner and as a leader. Joseph’s trust was in God and not in himself or his ability
PHOTO: LIGHTSTOCK
Similarly, if self-esteem is a child’s understanding of personal success, then a Christian child’s self-esteem comes from the Savior’s forgiveness. As humans we cannot help but worry about how good we are, but God reminds us that the death and resurrection of Jesus covers our sins and failures. Through God’s grace, we can fail, repent, be forgiven and move on to learn from the experience. to change his circumstances. Because Joseph did not have to think about himself, he was free to serve God and others. God blessed Joseph with humility and this humility allowed him to forgive his brothers. When we share our faith with our children and teach them about God’s love, we are showing them that trust in God is better than trust in personal abilities.
For Further Study Use these Bible verses on humility for family devotions: • dailyverses.net/humility
Parent Pages Vol. 17 • No. 7 • March 2018 Parent Pages is an LCMS School Ministry newsletter published by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 314-965-9000 • lcms.org Writer: Dr. Kim Marxhausen Designer: Chrissy Thomas © 2018 LCMS
TO REPRINT: Permission is granted to reprint articles from this newsletter with the credit line “Reprinted with permission of LCMS School Ministry.” Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
