Thankful Hearts

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

As we enter enter into the Thanksgiving season, I'm encouraging the children each day to share something for which they are thankful. Yesterday I received answers like "my family", "God", "that Jesus helps me go to sleep at night", "toys", and "my brother". I can't wait to hear what they come up with tomorrow.

I've been reflecting on what gratitude does for our attitudes and how it can motivate our actions. Too often, our Christian walk can become a laundry list of duties that we feel compelled to do because we feel like we have to or because we want others to think well of us. Sometimes we can even fall into the trap of believing that our good deeds are somehow contributing to our salvation. As one of our pastors at Christ Church, Pete Jackson, said in a recent sermon, we feel that we've done our part and now The Lord owes us. What I took away from his teaching that Sunday is that if we start to reflect on all of the blessings the Lord has given us, especially in the gift of His Son, we will be humbled by the gratitude that we feel. The gift of the gospel is just that, a gift. It cannot be earned by any of us. When we start to serve the Lord and others out of that place of thankfulness, the feelings of drudgery disappear, and we serve out of love for God and His children.

I encourage you to begin each day this month thinking of something for which you are thankful. Maybe on your way to school, you can help your child think of a new thing for which he is thankful to share with the class. I'll keep sharing their precious answers with you.

If you would like to hear Pete's sermon, you can follow the link here. It was October 24th, "The Gospel: Time for God's People."

http://christchurchatlanta.org/section/resources/sermon-audio

My Journey with The Heiskell School

“We have not ceased to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”
Colossians 1:9- 10



My greatest hope and prayer, as a mother, is to see the spiritual seeds planted in the hearts of my children grow into mature fruit as they become the people God intends. Eight years ago, when my daughter was just a little over a year old, I began to consider how I wanted to educate my children. How was I going to plant those seeds? I was considering homeschooling, and I was beginning to research that option. In the process, I claimed a verse from Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
One day, while I was out running errands, I passed The Heiskell School and saw that the school was holding an open house that morning. I had heard about the school from the mother of one of my high school students when I was teaching in Roswell. Out of curiosity, I decided to stop and go to the open house. When I arrived, Mrs. Heiskell was in the library speaking to the parents about the school’s philosophy. I immediately felt a connection to this special place and knew I had found a likeminded group of teachers and families. When she quoted Proverbs 22:6, the verse I had claimed for my family, and I saw the words of that verse printed on all of the school materials, I knew my visit there that day was providential. The Lord had led me to this school.
My daughter started two years later as a three year old. Her teachers began planting seeds in her heart along with me and my husband and our church. Little did I know on that first visit that He was not only calling my children to The Heiskell School, but that he would be calling me there as well to teach and plant seeds in the hearts of other children. Now the same hope and prayer that I have for my children, I have for my students too. We teach a lot about the ABC’s and 123’s, fine motor skills, music, and sharing toys, but the most important lesson we teach is a love for God and others. Please join me in praying Colossians 1: 9-10 for all of our children as we partner together to “train them up in the way they should go.”


In Him Who is Able,

Miss Jenny

Thank you for a great year! What a sweet class I had this past year. Thank you for all the love and support. I hope you all will have a wonderful time this summer and hope to see you in the fall.