Principal's Report

Keep Going

Every now and then life throws us in at the deep end and tells us to swim. We, perhaps, find ourselves in overwhelming situations that we don’t know how to deal with. It might be an unexpected illness, the death of a loved one, some form of abuse, or remote learning and teaching and Stage 3 restrictions forced on us by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When hardship presents itself to us in whatever form, we tend to take it personally, sometimes feel guilty, and often times feel as if, through what has happened, we have let people down. If we focus our energies upon ourselves, we can end up in a depressed state. No one can expect to travel along through life and not experience pain and hardship; they are inevitable but how we deal with them will determine our true character.

Some years ago now, William Young’s life was a mess. He was 53 years old, emotionally distanced from his parents who were missionaries, he had been sexually abused by members of the New Guinea tribe he and his parents had lived among, he was grief stricken for a brother and a niece who had died too young and too suddenly, he had been unfaithful to his wife, Kim, and he was frantic to be reconciled with God.

William Young managed to stay functional by stuffing all the evil done to him and by him into “The Shack”, his metaphor for an ugly, dark place so deeply within him that it seemed beyond God’s reach. 

Eventually, “The Shack” became a best selling novel and retold the dialogue he had with the Three Persons of the Trinity, each of whom was portrayed by a most unlikely human representation.

Basically, “The Shack” recounts how the author was guided to put his trust in God despite the hard times he was experiencing. It demonstrated that working through issues together with God, rather than maintaining a state of distant independence from Him, can change everything.

Through his writing, William Young became reconciled with God and was spiritually reborn. In some ways his “hardship” was a test of his Christian character. What he does when he comes to the road block in his life and what his attitude is after everything has left him except Jesus, who is one of the Trinity and the one who shared his and our humanity. 

Perhaps, like William Young, when we are confronting our own hardship, we might come to the conclusion he came to-that Christ can be a rock of support when we feel like the deep end is too deep and we doubt our swimming abilities. 

As we approach the halfway mark of these Stage 3 restrictions, don’t overlook the power of prayer. Finding a few quiet minutes for prayer each day might just give you the buoyancy you need if things seem to be becoming too difficult. 

“Lord, we ask for courage to face the challenges that daily enter into our lives and to bring them to resolution as You did with the problems in Your life.    Amen.”

God bless.

Michael Delaney

Principal