This week is one of my favorite weeks of the school year - National Lutheran Schools Week. If you walk into one of our local Lutheran Schools this week, chances are you’ll find students and teachers dressed differently than usual. Some may be mismatched, some may be extra dressed up while others may just show up in their pajamas. Schools are also planning special activities. A couple schools will watch a movie as an entire school. Several are spending time and doing activities with chapel families. A few have special visitors or groups coming in for assemblies. Other schools have special lunches, talent shows, and pep rallies.
Why celebrate this week? Why not just acknowledge that Lutheran Schools are great and move on? Why do we disrupt learning times with silly outfits and activities?
Well ..... why not?!
This week was one of my favorites as a student and I only grew to love it more as a teacher. This week is a time to remember that our Lutheran schools are bigger than just ourselves. We’re more than a Partnership, a district, or a region. We are the second largest private school system in the nation. But it doesn’t stop there. We also celebrate with Concordia International Schools in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Hanoi. This week is our chance to spread the mission of Lutheran schools to our communities and share with them what it is that makes our schools so unique.
This week students aren’t only dressing up and having special activities for themselves, they’re also serving. Some schools are collecting monetary gifts or supplies for various charities including Lutheran Hour Gospel Adventures supporting mission work in Peru. Others are going and volunteering their time for local organizations. Service to others is a large part of what we do and what we are called to do.
Taking the time to celebrate this week is important. Lutheran schools have a great history of Christian education, and now more than ever, we need to spread the word about them. At Lutheran schools, students are taught all the regular academic subjects and fed the Gospel on a daily basis. Here students are encouraged to grow as individuals and as children of God.
Pray for Lutheran Schools. Pray for those who attend. Pray that our schools may reach those who need to hear about the love of Christ. Pray for teachers and pastors as they passionately teach children about Jesus. Pray that some of the students we teach now become the pastors and teachers of the future.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to send my children to Lutheran Schools where I know that daily they will be hearing about the Real. Present. God.
