Letter from the Principal

Dear Parents of FMCS,

Well, I can’t tell you how much I am going to miss all those political commercials – yes the election is over. No matter what side you are on, more and more we have to pray as Christians. This is not a “political” letter but another observation that despite upcoming changes, our current economic situation in our county and country is still tough today. This is not going to change right away.

There is something that God has laid on our hearts at FMCS and I would like to share it with you because it involves you and your children. MANY of our FMCS families have had a difficult year, and with the holidays ahead, the stress and anxiety may increase. It has always been our desire to help our families and support our moms and dads, young boys and girls, tweens and teens – leading them in the basic foundation of biblical principles in all parts of life. We have been lead by the Lord to use the next couple of months to stress a very important character quality: CONTENTMENT.

In our middle school bible curriculum, contentment is defined as: realizing that true happiness does not depend on material conditions. (From the Character Training Institute) Bible verses that connect with that quality include:

I Timothy 6:7-8, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

Hebrews 13:5, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Knowing that many families may not be able to have the same type of Christmas that they have had before, we want to help our students see:

- How blessed they are with what they have now
- That GIVING is better than getting
- Love is not based on how much you GET at Christmas
- That Christ is what you need – things that are eternal are more important

During our in-service time on Monday, the teachers discussed ways that they could help teach these lessons of contentment to our students. We know that we have a battle ahead of us (it is a culture war), but we want to work together with you to help our students understand how blessed they are and to be thankful for what they have.
As a parent, there are times that I have succeeded at helping my kids see this quality, and there are times have been caught up in the commercialization of the culture, keeping up with the Jones’s, etc. The media will be working very hard – especially through commercials – to tell your kids that they need more STUFF! We can help them by:

- Sharing bible stories on contentment and more verses like Philippians 4:12-13 (you even have the Veggietales and other kids videos that the kids love to watch to reinforce these qualities)
- Helping them to become active in giving: Pastor Richard’s video on the Africa Oasis Project Tuesday was very moving. (go to my blog for details); the missions assembly stressed giving and ways that we can do that to improve our county and country.
- Praying for them and with them!
- Spending time together as a family just doing the most basic activities – TIME WITH OUR KIDS IS THE BEST GIFT WE CAN GIVE THEM!

You will start to see emails sent with reinforcing bible verse, stories, resources, etc. It is all designed to support you and to teach our kids what is really important. Thank you.

In His Service,

Mel Mitchell
Principal