Thank you 

By Juliette Krens (Systems & Compliance Manager)

The last month or so has gone past in a blur. I've experienced stressful and busy situations before, but nothing like what took place behind the scenes in the lead up to Term 2. Not so long ago, someone said to me “I don't know how you did what you did.” and I said, “Neither do I”. Upon reflection though I put it down to faith. My faith in a God who loves and supports me and the faith of others who prayed for God to give me strength. For both I am equally grateful.

Often I have said that I am not a warm, ‘lovey-dovey’ kind of person, and really I'm not, but I had to reflect on what drove me. I have to be honest and admit that I had a deep desire to keep an entire community of people comforted in the knowledge that they belonged to a school that cared. I wanted people to know we were here working for them, and thinking of them and so I came to see two forms of love, one for God and another for people. Maybe there's a little warmth there after all, but that isn't the main part of this story.

What I really wanted to highlight in all of this was 'you' - the people in our school community. I wanted to say thank you to those of you that kept us going. Those that took to writing kind words and emails that shone light into the days when exhaustion sought to overtake us. Words of gratitude, words of pride, words of encouragement and words of solidarity. Every single one of those words made a difference. There were even words slanted with humour, a small laugh that served a big purpose and helped to continue to spur us on. I wanted to be able to voice my own gratitude to you as a community. Thank you for your patience and thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you for being supportive and understanding. Thank you for the offers of help and for baking. Thank you for every little thing you do, it truly makes a difference.

Lastly I want to say. Hang in there. Hold onto the small things in life that make you smile. Remember that you're not alone.  We are all in this together, even though we're apart. We don't all know what each person is going through because every situation is unique and some of us are doing it tougher than others, but remember that together we are strong. We can be proud of who we are as a community.

My final words to you are from my heart and as I started to write them, I realised they were scripture, (my own version), “May God bless you and keep you. May He shine His love upon you and give you hope. May He grant you peace and strength during these turbulent times.”

If you believe I care, know that He cares much, much more.

‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ Numbers 6: 24-26 (NLT)