What the Public School System is teaching me: Part 1 - Community

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.¹⁴ “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)

My kids go to an English Public School in Ontario.  Tonight I attended my first school council meeting.  I have never attended one, nor did I really know what school councils were. 

I attended mostly for selfish reasons (i.e. I wanted to be involved for my own kids' sake) but as I sat and heard about what school council was - that it exists as an extension of the school to serve the entire student body (not just our own kids) and by extension the community at large - I took notice that perhaps God had some lessons for me tonight.

Here was a great opportunity for me to get to know and connect with the people in my community.  I had the opportunity  to be involved in the school in a constructive way.  I had a chance to think about ways God could use me to bless the community.

Was I willing to take the time to get to know people I don't know?

Was I willing to take the energy to do something for the community and the students at this school - people who are complete strangers to me right now?


At church we talk about needing to be real; to strip down the walls of the church to meet the community's needs; to be missional where we are.

I had been trying to learn to be welcoming.  To reach out to my neighbours.  And my faith has grown in the process though it has not been easy - for in the process I have come to realize how selfish I really am.  God has also revealed hidden prejudices I have to people that are 'different' from me.  And I have come to realize how much I appreciate my personal space and time.

But tonight,  God was revealing a new layer of lessons for me to grasp.

"Learn about community and love through this School, Sandy -- and tell me what you see and learn"

I began to realize that the schools in our communities are opportunities for us to be Jesus' hands and feet -  to simply love and care just because we know that is what Jesus wants us to do.  

How many of us would be willing to ditch some of our church-ran programs and instead use that time (assuming you don't have time to do both) to join your local school council, or soccer team, or whatever is happening in your community FOR Jesus?  

And if we are involved right now, how many of us actually do it for Jesus, for the community, as opposed to doing it because we see it as a way to benefit from it (e.g. our kids go to that school)?  How many of us share these burdens with our church family so that by extension the church gets involved in the community and we journey together?

Something happens when you shift your focus from seeing the community centres and schools in your community as simply services you and your family are entitled to and benefit from, to venues God has placed in our midst, to connect with other people.  You CHOOSE to shift from caring only for your family to caring for your community also.

There is a tug of war in my heart as I sit in this meeting.  God, I know what you are saying, but how can I find time?  How can I love when I don't know them?  How? How?  (and part of me knows part of my questions simply stem from not wanting to do it)

And then I looked at the 24 people sitting in the room with me - I don't know them but I bet not all of them, if anyone, was there FOR Jesus.  They all have lives, jobs and families.  And yet they were there...on a Thursday night.  

If they can show up and participate, I felt I was in a losing position when it came to arguing  the issue with God.

So, yes.  In the end I volunteered to be part of the school council committee.  I felt strongly that tonight was God's way to tell me what I needed to do this season in my career as a stay at home mom.  Perhaps being a stay at home mom doesn't only mean being there for my kids after school, or staying on top of things at the school for just my kids.  Perhaps God has given some of us this blessing to be 'at home' for a bigger purpose.  Perhaps the blessing is not so much in that I get to spend more time than many people with my kids, but that it is a chance for God to change me inside out and to learn to truly care for the community at large as well.  To be real to people around me, to direct them to the source of my strength - Jesus.

How?  You know what? I have no clue -- but for some reason, I don't worry about that.  I don't think Jesus calls us to change people.  He only asks that we be willing to be used to show people the way to Him.

When you see it that way, and if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus...how could you say no?

So...

Open your mouth and introduce yourself to people you see every day at the school yard (or bus stop) during drop offs or pick ups.  Pause and think of all the 'strangers' you see on a daily basis - that guy you take the bus with all the time, the guy that makes your morning coffee every day, the security guard you see by the elevators at your office, the cashier at the supermarket, the homeless guy you pass by every morning by the TTC entrance...

Open your ears and listen to them.  Remember their faces, their names, what they tell you.  Get to know them by name.

Be proactive - be nice, smile.  Stop texting and staring at your iphone or smartphone and notice the people around you.

Get out of the house- life is not just about our jobs and our family. Let's find ways God is leading us to care for our community ..... infiltrate into the system, so to speak....it may not be about starting a new thing as opposed to simply joining something that already exists.

And no, in case you are thinking I'm a super mom....don't go there.  I have my fears.  I have my doubts.  I wrestle with God all the time.  I get tired and frustrated.  I have times when I just want to quit.   But I also know I am His follower, His disciple.  And I am called to love because He first loved me.  

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again". 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9