All of this to say… have you been out to the soccer field lately? Last month we removed eight pines and topped fifteen more along the track.  It was a little disheartening for a tree lover to watch the work in progress but in this case the end certainly justified the process as a beautiful array of Solar Panels now covers the south facing side of the High School Campus roof. A privately held Solar Company called Pristine Sun did the installation and will maintain the array. The practical benefits of this project are wonderful examples of good stewardship. Forest Lake Christian School did not pay for any of the panels nor their installation. Pristine Sun maintains the array at their expense.  Our monthly electric bill is immediately reduced by 15% and that monthly cost will stay the same for the next twenty years. As energy costs will likely increase steadily over the next twenty years the projected monthly savings could ultimately exceed 40% of current rates. By the way,  the Combie Campus  is also sporting a beautiful new array of Solar Energy Panels from Pristine Sun but that project was completed without having to take down nor remove any more of  those wonderful Nevada County trees. Stop by on a sunny day and watch that meter go backwards!

For more information about Pristine Sun go to www.pristinesun.com

The author went on to encourage his audience to evaluate their 2012 on the basis of their faithfulness, not their productivity.  Of course it is true that faithfulness involves effort which often results in productivity. Making productivity the primary goal, however; puts the cart before the proverbial horse and can lead to frustration. We do well to remember that God causes things to grow (I Corinthians 3:6 &7), and that He may cause them to grow at a pace or in a manner that is not consistent with the world’s definition of success.

Productivity – obsessed people (are you one of them?) might want to consider the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), in which the master refers both to the five-talent servant and to the two-talent servant as “good and faithful,” not as “good and successful.” Jesus wants us to be faithful stewards of the resources we have been given, but frankly, faithfulness sometimes requires us to do things that seem downright inefficient and not-strategic. Have no fear…we are not necessarily called upon to understand the mysteries of our Heavenly Father, but we are certainly admonished to endure knowing that His plans are for our welfare and not for calamity to give us a future and a hope.

High School and Junior High Christmas Concert – December 13, 2011

Elementary Christmas Concert – December 15, 2011

I love to observe my children during this season. The expression upon their sweet faces when we drive by those homes with the beautiful outdoor light displays is priceless, and I don’t know if your home is anything like mine, but it does not take long for me to circum to their repeated pleas to “get down the decorations out of the attic”. Frankly, I also look forward to “unwrapping”  those long hidden Christmas treasures as much as they do. Of course being surrounded by children each and every day at “work” also helps to fuel the love as the Christmas season excitement builds day by day through chapels, choir concerts, basketball tournaments and a score of other activities and class room lessons designed to celebrate the greatest of all gifts, the boy child Jesus Christ.

That of course is the real reason why Christmas continues to thrill our hearts and renews our hope for tomorrow. It is not the beautiful lights, the special decorations or the abundance of wonderful activities. It is the reality that the God of the universe began the next phase of His redemptive plan by choosing to re-enter His creation in that Bethlehem stable as the “Word became flesh.” (John 1:14) Luke records for us in his gospel account (2:19) that Mary pondered these things in her heart as she observed the face of her beloved child…we too must take the time each year to ponder this good news, and what better way to do so then through the eyes of a child!