A Change of Pace

I was recently walking on campus before school with my daughter from one building to the next while it was raining. I wanted to move quickly, but her pace was considerably slower. I almost picked her up so I could get moving. After all, I had places to go and things to do. Instead, I slowed down with her. Life goes by quickly enough. Sometimes walking slowly in the rain is a blessing in disguise. God uses my daughter to remind me of that quite often. The whole thing reminded me of a recent viral video by Simon Sinek. This is worth watching.

I've made a few changes to my routine because of this video.

1. I removed my work email from my phone. I'll admit, I work a lot of hours. Sometimes it's hard to stop working. The demands of what I do can consume 7 days a week, but that's not healthy. I don't need the ability to get back to work in my pocket all the time. I have a laptop for that. Limiting my access helps me control when I am working.
2. I removed all notifications from my phone. I don't really need to know every time someone likes a photo or makes a comment on something I've shared. Those pesky notifications keep me distracted all day long. I have enough things to keep track of to begin with. I now do that when I find myself with 10 minutes to spare. It has been helpful to make this change.
3. I've scheduled when I check my email for work. I follow a number of thinkers in the area of leadership: Carey Niewholf, Simon Sinek, and Travis Bradberry to name a few. These men are helping me assess many things in my work day. I'm learning to be more efficient with my schedule in order to take control of it, rather than allowing it to control me. It's starting to pay off. Having a set time each day to check and answer email has helped me be more efficient.

I encourage you to slow down. A little rain won't make you melt. It might just give you some perspective on life.

A February Challenge

Many people joined me in January as we read through the Gospel of Matthew.

Would you like to keep going?

Now that you have set a pattern in your life of reading the Bible every day, why not turn that pattern into a habit? Let's read the Gospel of Mark together.

Whether you read through Matthew and you are continuing or you are beginning with Mark, today is a great day to get started.

Here's what the Lexham Bible Dictionary gives as an introduction to Mark's Gospel:
MARK, GOSPEL OF Second Gospel in the New Testament canon, but generally held to be the first composed. Traditionally ascribed to John Mark, who traveled with Paul and Barnabas. The Gospel of Mark was likely written to persuade Gentile readers in Rome that Jesus’ death on the cross - a shameful form of execution in Roman society - did not invalidate his claims to messiahship and deity or his proclamation of the kingdom of God, but rather that his resurrection, miracles, and prediction of his death vindicated his claims.

With only 16 chapters, it won't be difficult to finish Mark in the 28 days of February. Let's go.

Open House at TBS

This Thursday we will open our campus to invite as many people as possible to "kick the tires" of TBS. Who do you know that you could invite? Would you consider inviting anyone you know who has school-aged children to join us. They might be surprised how affordable TBS can be for their family if they're willing to have a conversation with us. If they can't make Open House, we have Shadow Days scheduled for every month that they could attend. Help us grow. Invite all of your friends to TBS Open House.

The Road Ahead

I start planning for next year about the time this year begins. In fact, our Leadership Team is constantly and consistently looking 3-5 years ahead of where we are. We do this in order to be proactive rather than reactive. One important piece - to you - that I study carefully is our costs. We are crafting what stewardship of resources looks like for Tacoma Baptist Schools. We are also studying your costs and trying to listen to your feedback about those costs.

Next year's tuition will have very few changes. Go to www.southsoundchristian.org/tuition for more information. You will notice minor adjustments for Elementary (increase) and Junior High (decrease). There is no change to High School. Our long term goal is to decrease the price difference from one division to the next. These adjustments reflect a movement in that direction. Our hope is that we will continue to see increased enrollment, which will allow us to hold tuition prices as low as possible. Who knows, maybe we can one day look at decreasing tuition.

I am doing all that I can to keep our costs down. Will you help us out with one thing? Since our path forward is in continuing to increase enrollment, will you invite people to consider TBS? Many families come to TBS because they know someone who is already at TBS. Your assistance in reaching out to others increases our ability to hold costs down.

It's exciting to look down the road and see where we are going.

I Have a Dream

When I look around our school, I am pleased to see that our student population is quite diverse. 40% of our students identify with an ethnicity or people group that is other than caucasian. For a Christian school in this area, we are ahead of the pack. That's good, but we can do better. I have a dream that our student population would match our community in diversity. That means we need to advance that number to 50% diversity. In fact, my real dream is that we would one day become a minority majority campus. In other words, my dream is that one day we would have more minority group students than majority group students.

Why?

Diversity causes us to think outside of ourselves. I naturally think and act like a middle-aged white man with a wife of 25 years and 4 Asian children, because that is what I am. Diversity stretches me to attempt to see and understand and empathize with how another sees and operates within life. Diversity enhances my ability to function more globally. Since our mandate is to make disciples of all nations, I believe a global mindset is required.

How can we accomplish this?

My second dream is a practical step that will help us accomplish the primary dream. I dream of the day when our staff reflects the diversity within our student population. I believe our students need adults on campus with which they can identify and sometimes heritage is a part of that equation. Since I arrived at TBS, I have attempted to increase the diversity within our staff, but this has proven difficult. I will continue to strive for increased diversity by attempting to broaden the networks to which I am connected. Ultimately, we hire someone who applies and is qualified for a position, so as this opportunity naturally occurs, I would love to see an increase in diversity. Will you join me in praying for this to happen?

I love what this weekend represents. I love the legacy that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. left and the vision he cast that still inspires me. I love his emphasis to value the image of God in every person. I look forward to the day in which I join him and others from every tribe, tongue, and nation around the throne of God. Until then, I will continue to see what I have in common with others and strive for unity with them.

Puzzles

This year for Christmas one of my sons gave me a 2,000 piece puzzle. This is a bit beyond my normal abilities. 500 to 1,000 pieces are our normal challenge. This one took a while. Want to know why I like puzzles?

1. Puzzles teach me endurance. So many things can be obtained right now. Puzzles strengthen my ability to stick with it. The patience and perseverance needed to complete a puzzle is practice for real life. I don't always do well in the pop quizzes that life hands me. Puzzles are a way to get in some reps with intent.
2. Puzzles teach me to set boundaries. I always complete the border before I go further on a puzzle. My life needs boundaries. I do the best I can to set my boundaries according to scripture. This builds integrity into my daily routines. With that boundary set, life begins to take shape in a way that makes sense.
3. Puzzles build community. The biggest reason I like puzzles is because I can get my family to unplug and spend some time together around the table working on something and talking with one another. We have to plan these opportunities sometimes. Connection takes effort. When there are 2,000 pieces, connection takes a lot of effort and the effort has many opportunities for connection.
4. Puzzles teach me to be divergent in my vision. The end-goal of a puzzle is to complete the picture. However, there are 2,000 details that have to lock into place and function in congruity before that picture fulfills its intended purpose. We are developing DiscipleLeaders at TBS, but this takes as many forms as we have students, staff, parents, and grandparents. It's a fun process. We learn from each other along the way.

Wipe everything off your dining room table and go buy a puzzle. See what lessons you will learn.

31 Days of Prayer

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work." Oswald Chambers

Will you commit the next 31 days to praying for Tacoma Baptist Schools?
Here's a list of suggestions.

January 1: That the Lord would be glorified through TBS.
January 2: That we would be faithful to the task of developing DiscpleLeaders.
January 3: That our students will be focused as they return to school on this day.
January 4: That our teachers would be energized to finish the semester.
January 5: That the Lord would speak through Emily Timmer in chapel this morning.
January 6: For our school to continue to grow.
January 7: For our churches to reach their communities with the Gospel.
January 8: For our Facilities Staff: Dave, Dennis, Isaac, and Lorenzo
January 9: For our Office Staff: Brenda, Calice, Katie, and Teena
January 10: For our Finance Department: Nora and Tracy
January 11: That the Lord will bless our Shadow Day tomorrow.
January 12: That the Lord would speak through Pastor Soong Yol Hong in chapel this morning.
January 13: For our Preschool Teachers: Christy, Johanna, and Kristen
January 14: For our 1st-6th Grade Teachers: Jill, Kim, Nicole, Nikki, Susan, and Trisha
January 15: For our School Board: Bill, Brad, Duane, Eric, Jim, Lou, Ron, Todd, and Tom
January 16: That the Lord will allow us to increase in diversity within our staff and student body.
January 17: For our JH Teachers: Carli, Donna, Jenna, Kayla, Kelli, Mike L.
January 18: For our Language Teachers: Carli, Debra and Lisa
January 19: That the Lord would speak through Andrew Larson in chapel this morning.
January 20: That our country would learn to focus on what unifies us and not on what divides us.
January 21: For our HS Staff: Beth, Gary, Jenna, Jeremiah, Matt, Melissa, Mike L, Mike S, Rachel, Soong Yol, Tom
January 22: For our Fine Arts Teachers: Aaron, Adrienne, Bill, and Calice
January 23: For our students taking finals this week.
January 24: For our ISC Teachers: Adrienne, Alicia, and Amanda
January 25: For our Program Directors: Beth and Jean
January 26: For our Student Center Staff: Alicia and Kim
January 27: For our BASC Staff: Alicia, Amy, Heidi, and Kara
January 28: For our Auction Staff: Melissa and Sandy
January 29: For our Administrative Staff: Alyssa, Brad, Danette, Julie, LeAnn, Mike S, and Tim.
January 30: That we would begin our new semester well.
January 31: For our Open House on February 2.