Presented by: Nicole Alfonso LMHC, Westminster Mom

 

Jesus is God.

He was the word in the beginning animating the emptiness with light.

He was there, in the garden, after Eve reached out and took the forbidden fruit, shared it with Adam, and the human race fell into sin.

He heard Abel’s blood cry out from the ground when Cain murdered him.

He was there when Noah built the ark. He was there when God put the rainbow in the sky to promise to never destroy the earth again.

Westminster will be traveling to the University of Salamanca, Spain for a summer immersion program. Students, join us on January 15, at 1 p.m. in Beacon Hall, to hear from a university rep about details of the trip. 

The application is now open for the University of Salamanca summer immersion program. The application is due on Wednesday, January 22, at 12 p.m. Please submit your application as soon as possible. Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee selection. A committee will review all applications, and applicants will be notified of their decision on January 29.

The selected group will depart from Miami on May 31 and arrive in Salamanca on June 1 to begin the immersion program, returning to Miami on June 16. Review the draft itinerary and expected cost, as well a sample of classes that may be available for enrollment while in Spain.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Leonor Belaval. We are looking forward to a wonderful time in Spain!

I’m sure you will travel for Christmas. If not, people are probably traveling to you. Travelling can be very stressful. Whether it’s the hassle of the airport, or the long, claustrophobic hours in a car, when you finally arrive, you’re exhausted. Then, being out of your routine, staying in hotels, or on your aunt’s couch, sharing a bathroom with cousins and eating junk all make for tough moments.

Why do we do it? I think part of the reason is we intuitively understand the importance of being with the people we love. Whether that’s with our family and friends on a vacation where we can relax and enjoy each other’s company, or a holiday trip to see family and friends. We know the value of people’s physical presence in our lives.

‘Tis the season for Christmas movies!

There is a pattern in Christmas movies where the main character is singled out for having special characteristics. These unique abilities launch them on a journey of self-discovery. Christmas movies, in particular, end with a cathartic, “Ahhh!” as the main character gets what he/she wants, and everything is at peace once again.

Scott Calvin becomes the Santa Clause by accident, but then becomes the Santa Clause through transformation.

Buddy is actually a human living with elves who merely tolerate him, but his quirkiness wins him the girl, his father, and acceptance back into the elf community.

Kevin is a strong-willed child picked on by his family, but his strength turns out to be the virtue that protects him, and his family all see it in the end...until the next year.

Clark Griswold is a conscientious employee with great ideas, and he “deserves a bonus,” and that’s just what he gets in the end.

The boy who doubts Santa, is also the one who finds the lost ticket and gets the first gift of Christmas. In the end, the conductor changes his name from “Doubter” to “Believer” and he can still hear the bell at Christmas...ding, ding, ding...

 

Wear school-appropriate pajamas. No shorts or pajama gowns allowed.

 

Let's go green! Mr. Heetderks has met with all of the classes and explained the Green Challenge to students.  If you are a family who loves nature and want to get more involved, please join the Nature Ambassador group located under the PS/ES WhatsApp community. Please let Mrs. Glavach know if you have any great green ideas.

 

There is a phrase you hear a lot in sports, “They left it on the field.” 

 

I like that phrase! It means you gave it your all, maybe you didn’t win, but you can still feel good because you left it on the field. It’s a good sign if you get to the place in life where hard work and effort is a reward unto itself. 

 

You can’t win every game. You can’t be good at every subject. You wouldn’t do well in any career. You’re not going to get along with every person you have to interact with, but this isn’t an excuse to lay back and let things crumble to pieces. There’s more that can and should be done to review the film, the study, to develop your skills, and to extend grace and forgiveness. This is true in life. This is also true in our faith. 

 

We are not saved by works, but we are saved for them. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the kingdom of God! And our hands will be the ones to do it. The goal of that Christian life is not to be comfortable on earth and get rescued into paradise. The life of a Christian should be marked with the sweat and scars of hard work. 

 

And there’s no better place to start training for a life well lived than right now. That’s why your coaches and teachers, your parents, your church leaders, and everyone is encouraging you to leave it on the field. Everyone knows that the very best results in life come on the heels of hard work and in no category is our work more justified and rewarded than in our faith. 

 

Jesus looked at his disciples from where He sat by the woman at the well in John 4, as they came back from lunch and said, “Look, the fields are ripe for harvest.” Get started now fighting the good fight of the faith so that one day you’ll be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 

 

Next school year, we want to thrive, as individuals, in our families, at school, and as a community. We want our work to matter and to produce great results. We want the effort of our minds to give us insight and wisdom. We want our relationships to bloom with love, joy, contentment, and peace. We want our systems to run smoothly, our governments to strike the right balance, our neighborhoods to protect our sense of security. Our money to swell, our possessions to remain pristine, and our moods and emotions to remain under our control.

By contrast, we don’t want to waste time and effort or to have our hard-earned recognition be taken by someone else. We don’t want our investments to diminish or our decisions to result in suffering for us or those we love. We don’t want our deeply held convictions to be dismissed, and we don’t want to find that we’re addicted, or angry, or depressed, or sick.

So, what do we really want? In short, we want the paradise God created back in Eden. How do we get what we want? 

But how did we lose it? Scripture teaches us in Genesis 1-3 that we lost it when Adam and Eve reached out and took the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden. Perhaps you’re tempted to feel cheated by this, thinking, “That’s not my fault. If I had been there, I wouldn’t have doomed humanity to permanent suffering and death.”

Wouldn’t we though? Adam and Eve did it in Eden, but so did the disciples in Gethsemane. The church did it during the crusades, and again in the colonial conquest of the Americas, and when African people were being imported as slaves. Would we have stood opposed to the wicked and destructive actions of those in power? Did the Germans during WWII or the Russians, or Chinese or warring tribes in Rwanda? We can look back and understand with compassion that none of these people, Adam and Eve included, knew what the future would hold. Most of them, at the time, could NOT possibly have understood the ramifications of their complicit silence, and seemingly innocent turning-the-other-way in the moment. But their ignorance does not make them innocent, and it certainly does not reverse the effects of their actions or inactions on the rest of us.

And we are guilty as well, though we don’t like to think about it like that. But sin doesn’t begin with wanton destruction, it begins with avoiding the hard work demanded of us today. It does not begin in bitterness, divorce, betrayal, and scandal, it begins in our choice not to hold back our biting words to those we love when we feel angry, hungry, and/or tired. Cain, in Genesis 4:7, discovered this about sin. It does not come at us in the obvious way that we might resist it; instead, it “crouches at the door…”, and we must resist it or we will find ourselves giving in to our pressing desires for relief, pleasure, and power over others, and in that way sacrificing our futures too, to the devastating effects of sin.

We want paradise back, but our sins have made that impossible, and we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves. So, how do we close the gap?

We don’t! But Jesus did. Jesus never left paradise! He never gave in to His fleshly desires or said something he later regretted. Jesus stayed with God in the garden of Eden and when we found him in the garden of Gethsemane our envy led us to kill him for it. But praise God, He is not resentful, spiteful, vengeful, and malicious like we are, because instead of retribution, which is what we deserve, He extends an invitation to come home.

That person, [who places their faith in Jesus and abides in Him], will be like a prospering tree. We can have what we want this year, by giving up everything we are and everything we have and trusting in and abiding in Jesus, who promises to give us back the desires of our heart. We can reenter paradise with Him, bit-by-bit in this life and completely in eternity. Then, like the psalmist says, we can, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” (Psalm 100:4)

Let us, therefore, move toward next year with hope that we can get what we want, and let us discover that what we really want is to be found in Jesus. I invite you to join us in the often difficult and frustrating journey of dying to yourself, that we might thrive together in Christ.

by John Bishop, Director of Spiritual Formation

To the seniors, 

 

I think most of the teachers at Westminster feel about you the way that Paul must have felt about the Ephesian church. He loved them! 

 

There is a touching scene in Acts 20 when Paul is saying goodbye to the people of Ephesus and in verse 37 it says, “They all wept as they embraced him…”. Paul had let them know that he was not going to see them again because he needed to obey God and go on to what, at that point, he understood was going to be imprisonment and death, for the sake of the gospel. 

 

Saying goodbye is hard. Some people deal with it by separating and pulling away. I guess the logic is, “If I make it uncomfortable and messy enough, it won’t hurt so bad.” But I don’t think that really lessens the blow, and it may actually rob some of the joy of those last moments. No, saying goodbye is a normal and necessary part of life. And here you are on the cusp, watching as this season of your life slips away, never to be seen again. It’s very sad. 

 

But just because it’s sad doesn’t mean it’s bad (sorry for the cheesy rhyme). You cannot go anywhere or do anything meaningful in life without allowing what’s known to be sacrificed for what’s unknown. That’s how we grow. That’s how we learn. That’s how we discover our limits and uncover our purpose. We have to let go of the very thing that carried us through. 

 

In an effort to leave you with some final words and help you finish strong or encourage you in how you have been finishing strong, here’s what Paul later wrote to the people of Ephesus, “16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” 

 

And now it’s time to let go. We release you to your future, into the unknown adventures that await. We pray over you what Paul prayed over them. We love you! Now get out of here and go do great things for Jesus! 

 

To the rest of the students, even if this isn’t your senior year, each year is filled with valuable moments. Take inventory of all that God is/has been doing in your life and cherish it. Time moves by quicker than we realize, and each day is an end in itself. Don’t miss it! 

Graduation will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 11 a.m. at The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater, 1700 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach. Students need to arrive at the auditorium by 9:30 a.m. to line up for the ceremony. Choir, band, and orchestra seniors must arrive at 9 a.m. for rehearsal and sound check. 
 
The doors will open for parents, families, and friends with tickets at 10:15 a.m. Please note that only ticket holders with assigned seats will be admitted. There is no general admission seating. Graduation will last approximately two hours. 
 
Graduation tickets are available for pick up in the HS Office (with Ms. Lorena Vicente), Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Each family will receive six (6) tickets at no cost with preassigned sections, rows, and seats. If you would rather your senior pick up the tickets, please email Ms. Lorena Vicente at lvicente@wcsmiami.org to provide permission to release the tickets to your child. Graduating seniors do not need tickets. All six tickets may be used for family and friends.
 
A lottery system determined seat assignments. Additional seats may be purchased for a non-refundable $35 per ticket. Please note that these additional seats will be in a separate section from the six seats you were originally assigned. If anyone needs handicap-accessible seating, please email Ms. Lorena Vicente so that arrangements can be made.  
 
Please mark your calendars with the following important dates leading up to graduation:

May 6-17	AP Exams	Seniors with AP exams are expected to report to the exams they are registered for and to class if there are pending tests/assignments.
May 17	Graduation Rehearsal & Senior Breakfast	Mandatory attendance for seniors on campus (students only)
May 18	Graduation Ceremony	The Fillmore at Miami Beach (11 a.m.)

 

Please contact the High School Office if you have any questions or concerns.
 

I’ve been a runner my whole life, and I think part of the motivation comes from a man I never met. 

 

When I was a kid, I would look out the window by my bed as I struggled to get up for school. From that position I could see the road that passed by my house. I remember one morning seeing a man walking by. The next morning there he was again. And the next. And the next. It went on for days. You might wonder why I noticed him. Well, he was a big guy! Definitely over six feet tall and overweight, not the kind of person you would typically see walking by, especially that early in the morning. But there he was, walking. 

 

I didn’t think much about him at first, but day after day, week after week, year after year, he passed by my house. He was committed! I was only a kid, but I found myself rooting for him. After a few months he was walking faster, and I silently cheered him on from my room. There was something inspiring watching this guy follow through with his commitment. Eventually, after a few years, he started jogging a little, slowly at first and only sporadically, and then, as his steps got lighter his pace got more consistent. 

 

This is how it goes. The things we do every day eventually become habits. We have the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual ability to adapt and grow to fit the decisions we make for ourselves and our ever-changing lives. It takes a while when you change schools, for example, to build new routines, establish new relationships, understand the cultural dynamics and eventually fit in. The same is true later in life. You move cities, get a new job, get married, have kids, and each time have to rediscover how these changes require a lot of growth and adaptation. But you make it work, because you often don’t have a choice. But does it have to be this way?  

 

Much of life seems to just happen to us and we find ourselves running uphill into a headwind. We’re out of shape and unprepared and often angry about it! “Why does it have to be so hard?” we think. I’m sure it was like this for this guy walking by my house. He didn’t get into whatever situation he was in all at once; he made little decisions every day that resulted in a life he was not happy with. Because the things we do every day eventually become habits. 

 

My sister texted me last July and mentioned she was running the Miami Marathon on January 28. I couldn’t resist the challenge. In August last year I began training. For my first run, I barely made it three miles at a pace I was happy with. It had been a while since I’d had a regular workout routine, and I was out of shape. For a few weeks I just had to grind it out using a motto “5K every day!” for motivation. It wasn’t awesome. 

We are excited to collaborate with Admission Ignition to provide college essay guidance. The next seminar, "Writing Descriptively" is on May 2, at 6:30 p.m. in the MS/HS Media Center. The first 50 students to sign up can attend for free and receive extra credit from their Westminster Language Arts teacher.

If you want to sign up, please fill out the Google Form. 

Prom is this weekend, and students are eager to enjoy this high school milestone. We are grateful we can coordinate and sponsor this event as well as other activities that enhance the Westminster student experience.
 
To maximize the fun and safety of our community, we want to remind families of our expectations for students who participate in Westminster-sponsored events. In this, we hope to clear up any misunderstandings, answer questions you may have, and set expectations for students and parents. We also feel it will be helpful to clarify the potential consequences associated with behavior that contradicts the standards outlined in the student handbook that occurs at this and any school-sponsored events.

We invite you to learn more about the dangers of teen alcohol use and the significant dangers, legal risks, and consequences to parents associated with underage drinking. Please refer to this resource, which includes a presentation by MADD and an attorney and former Westminster parent about Florida law related to liabilities associated with teen alcohol use and having alcohol present in a home where an after-party occurs.
 
We appreciate your attention to this matter as we seek to partner with you in educating our students to make good choices.

I think most of us want to win! At everything. All the time. 

 

Isn’t that why we cut each other off in traffic, and scan the grocery store aisles for the shortest line? Isn’t that why we pay attention to the latest fashion trends and keep up with all the details of our friends’ lives? Isn’t that why we apply for the best college we think we can get into maximizing the impressiveness of the name, while not overshooting and facing rejection? 

 

Being part of a team that is enduring a losing season is brutal! If we don’t start winning quick, the coaching staff starts packing up their offices. 

 

We want dubs! And if we don’t have dubs, we want answers! 

 

At Westminster Christian School we’re winning at a lot of levels! I walked into the gym and took a quick video of all the national, state, regional, and district championships hanging on the walls. If you haven’t looked recently, it’s a lot. We have national and state championships in baseball for 13 years and counting; state championships in softball – six years; boys track – two years; volleyball – two years; beach volleyball – one year. And we have district and regional championships in football, boys’ & girls’ basketball, baseball, softball, boys’ & girls’ track and field, boys’ & girls’ soccer, wrestling, volleyball, cross country, tennis, and boys’ lacrosse. This doesn’t account for the tremendous performance of individual students and teams that won critical games along the way. In athletics, we’re winning! 

 

On the website under “Recent College Acceptances” there’s a list of over 140 different schools to which our students have been accepted. Prestigious academic institutions like Harvard, Stanford, M.I.T., Brown, Berkley, Dartmouth, and many others. Our students have also been accepted at universities that are nationally known for their athletics, design, music, arts, research, engineering, law, medicine and a host of other things. Last year our school placed 100% of its graduates in schools to further their education. Beyond that we offer 27 different AP courses across all core subjects and the arts. In academics, we’re winning! 

 

There’s a bumper sticker that many of us have on our car that simply says, “The Dub” with a sword running through it. Obviously, this stands for “Westminster” and directly, but more subtly boasts of how we feel about our school, #WINNING! 

 

There is another area we’re winning, but it’s a little harder to measure, and so a little less obviously a part of what we love so much about our school. We hear about it on admission open house days when people from around town show up and comment, “Wow! Everyone is so nice!” I saw it last year when one of our athletic teams went out of their way to make some kids feel special in a restaurant. The father was so moved by how kind our students were to his kids that he went out of his way to tell us about it in an email. I don’t remember which team it was or whether we won the game, but we certainly won the game being played in that restaurant with those kids! We get to see it when our community faces tragedy. In those terrible moments we rally together and love each other and grieve well. And, finally, we get to see it at Warrior Week and Gr8 Escape, and increasingly every Tuesday as we open our hearts to God worshipping together in chapels. We’re winning! 

 

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 

 

I’m proud of our dubs! 

 

The Future Health Professionals (HOSA) high school club has partnered with OneBlood to host its final blood drive of the year on Wednesday, April 17, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. All eligible students and parents are encouraged to donate. There will be two Big Red Buses in the high school circle collecting whole blood and platelet donations.
 
Students can sign-up on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 9 and 10 during their social studies class or stop by HS 210. Students will receive a parent consent form when they register. Additional consent forms are available HERE. Students must be at least 16 to participate. Additionally:

 

Middle School students who are interested in auditioning for advanced theatre programs, get ready!

First, save the date.

Middle School Audition Date: Wednesday, May 1, from 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Second, sign up for an after-school audition spot:
Middle School Advanced Auditions Sign-Up Sheet
 
Third, prepare! 

Prepare a one minute monologue and a :30 second to one minute of a musical theatre or pop song (no rap)
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to lplyler@wcsmiami.org, and make sure you tell your friends who are interested. Hope to see you there!

View Flyer

The Class of 2025 and 2024 celebrate the passing of the torch from the seniors to the juniors in this Westminster tradition. The program is hosted by Student Leadership.
Tickets: $60/student

 

In Genesis 3:22 it says, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.” At first glance, this is a strange result. 

 

Adam and Eve are at their lowest and God banishes them from paradise in a final act of what?! What is God doing here? 

 

For the longest time I didn’t understand this outcome. I didn’t think much about it either; It just kind of felt like the end of a story, “…and they lived miserably ever after…” or something like that. It was later in my walk with the Lord that I realized what a profound act of mercy this banishment actually was.   

 

The consequence of eating the fruit was knowing good AND evil, whereas before the fruit we only knew good. If God allowed us to then reach out and take eternal life, we would exist for eternity knowing evil – that is not what He wanted for us. Death is introduced so that our suffering from evil (sin) could be limited to our lives on earth. And after that act, a drama unfolds through all human history depicting all of the ways that God has attempted to reach us and bring us back into a right relationship with him. 

 

 

And despite all of that we failed! 

 

No matter what God did to lead us, rescue us, guide us, protect us, we all like sheep, went astray, each to his own way and turned our backs on God. All, that is, until Jesus, the lamb of God, went willingly to death, even death on a cross to fulfill the plan of God from the beginning, to reopen paradise and invite us into eternity with Him. 

Today, juniors received their location, field trip form, and service day t-shirt. Please return the field trip form to Mrs. Walker on Tuesday, March 19. 

On the day of community service, students should arrive at their location by 9 a.m. and will be dismissed at noon.

On the day of Junior Bootcamp, students will meet at 8 a.m. in The Lighthouse, in school uniform, with their SURFACE and charger. Students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m.

If a student is scheduled for Community Service Day on Wednesday, March 20, he/she will attend Junior Bootcamp on Thursday, March 21. If a student is attending Community Service Day on Thursday, March 21, he/she will attend Junior Bootcamp on Wednesday, March 20.

For questions regarding Community Service Day, please see Mrs. Walker. For questions regarding Junior Bootcamp, please see your counselor.

We are excited about the upcoming milestones as we near the end of senior year! Thank you for entrusting us with your children's education and growth. They have truly been a blessing to us, and we are thrilled to see them embark on their final journey as high school seniors. Below is a recap of yesterday’s assembly. 

Please review the itinerary to know flight information and daily activities. It has been posted in The Brief each week for the past month, and shared in the Senior Parent/Student Community Groups in myWCS. Students need to plan accordingly, be mindful of their dress attire, and pack wisely. It will be cold (expected temperatures are 30s through 50s), and there will be quite a bit of walking involved. Bring comfortable shoes. The students are allowed to check a bag for their flight; however, that is an independent cost and they must pay for it directly at the airport during the check-in process. We HIGHLY ENCOURAGE taking a carry-on bag and personal bag (i.e. bookbag) instead of checking in a large bag. If you have any questions or concerns about the senior trip, please contact Mr. Castaneda. 

We are closely monitoring all updates in New York regarding subway transportation and will adjust accordingly as needed. We have booked a bus for transportation from airport to hotel on arrival day and from hotel to airport on departure day.

Seniors not participating in the Service Trip will be required to attend school on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, March 18, 19, and 22. Most classes are mixed-grades, so classes will still take place, and attendance matters. They are excused from school on Wednesday and Thursday, March 20 and 21, since juniors will have the CCC Boot Camp and Junior Service Day. Therefore, seniors not attending the service trip may miss school Wednesday and Thursday without affecting their attendance records.

On the academic front, we emphasized the importance of finishing strong. Maintaining their studies and GPA is crucial, and attendance remains a graduation requirement. We urge students to prioritize their academics and ensure they have met the minimum required community service hours for graduation (100 hours). If you have any academic concerns or require further guidance, please feel free to contact your child's counselor for support. 

March 18-22	Senior Trip	Miami International Airport Last Names A-E   Check-In: American Airlines Door 4 @ 5 a.m. Departure: AA1736 @ 7:03 a.m.   Last Names F-Z  Check-In: American Airlines Door 4 @ 7 a.m.   Departure: AA1848 @ 9:01 a.m.
April 18	Junior/Senior Brunch	Ritz Carlton @ Coconut Grove
April 20	Prom	Trump Hotel @ Doral
April 30	Senior Awards Night	All Seniors must attend. Caps, gowns, and cords are being distributed at this event. Parents are invited.
May 3	Last Day of Class/Senior Caravan	May 6–17: Seniors with AP exams are expected to report to the exams they are registered for and to class if there are pending tests/assignments.
May 17	Graduation Rehearsal and Senior Breakfast	On Campus; Mandatory Attendance for Seniors (students only)
May 18	Graduation Ceremony	Fillmore @ Miami Beach Ticket distribution will begin after Spring Break.

 

We are excited to announce that the College Counseling Center is organizing a college tour to Boston scheduled for September 8-12, 2024.

View the flyer containing details regarding the trip and the application process that students must complete to express their interest in attending.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Suarez at msuarez@wcsmiami.org or Ms. Ndhlovu at ondhlovu@wcsmiami.org.

(Must be submitted by Friday, March 15, 2024.)

 

Next week we will be celebrating the story of Easter - the central story of all human history. In the article next week, we will focus on how Jesus is the fulfillment of a story God has been telling from the beginning of time. As a setup to this climactic story, we have been outlining different symbols and images used in Scripture. We’ve already discussed the tree and the garden. Today we’ll look at the thorns. 

 

Without the saving work of Jesus, sin rules our lives. And there are consequences to sin that cannot be avoided or erased. The Bible describes these consequences by using the imagery of the thorns. In Genesis 3:17-19 we read, “God said to Adam, Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’” “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” 

 

How many times have you poured your heart into something only to see some of your effort wasted? You practiced all summer but didn’t make the team. You spent six months saving, but by the time you had enough, it was out of style. You invested time and effort into the relationship only to be betrayed. Thorns! 

 

We are so accustomed to the effect of sin that we even anticipate failure in our planning process. Airlines over-sell their seats because people don’t show (and maybe because of greed, too). If you’re smart, you have a contingency plan anytime you’re counting on someone following through. When you’re saving for retirement, you must account for inflation. You must carry insurance on everything. Thorns!! 

 

This is not the way God intended it. He put us in paradise without need or lack. It was sin that introduced brokenness and wasted effort. It’s not work that we hate; it’s wasted effort. Work isn’t even the curse, it’s the thorns. 

 

 

Last week we discussed our hearts (our will, motivations, thoughts, and decision-making center). We do the things we don’t want to do and don’t do the things we should do. The Bible calls this sin, and we all must deal with its effects in our lives. Instead of being Wholehearted, we are Hole-hearted. Then we looked at the problem and the solution using the image of “the tree.” This week we want to look at our hole-heartedness through a different lens, that of “the garden.” 

 

There are certain places we find ourselves (or put ourselves) that make doing the right thing much more difficult. There are also certain places where the possibility of something bad happening is much more likely, like South Beach after dark, for example. But we need to be careful giving too much credit to the place (context/circumstances) for how it affects our life. 

 

For example, we all know people who’ve come through bad places but made something very good of those experiences. We have also known people who have been given every advantage and have, nevertheless, ended up in a rough spot. How our heart chooses to direct us, regardless of where we are, is the central issue in navigating our lives. 

 

Consider the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:1-5 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”” 

 

There could not have been a better place to be. It was literally paradise. Everything was provided in abundance, even meaningful work. There was no brokenness, sin, shame, addiction, natural disasters, just God’s perfect creation. And in that context, Adam and Eve were hole-hearted. Even though they lacked nothing, they felt something was missing. The hole in their heart caused them to exert their will and take what was not theirs, even in a place where they had no need. This one act introduced sin to all of humanity. 

Hello Warriors!

Join us for the Mother/Son Game Night on Friday, April 12 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the SAC. This fun-filled event is about moms creating fun memories with their sons. Students from preschool through fifth grade will enjoy fun games, delicious food, and more alongside their mother or special guest.

Click HERE to purchase tickets. 

 

Information on how to order a class group picture was emailed to parents by Steckley. Place your class picture order by Friday, March 14, at 5 p.m. to receive free school delivery. 

📸 Can't find the email? Please search your email for "Steckley" and check your spam folder. If you still cannot locate the email, please email steckleyphoto@gmail.com with your child's name, school and grade.

Fifth grade parents, you're invited to attend "Transition to Middle School Parenting" on Friday, March 8, at 8 a.m. in the Nature Center with the Westminster counselors.

Also, mark your calendar for these important dates as your student transitions to middle school. 

 

There seems to be something wrong with our hearts (that is, our will, motivations, thoughts, and decision-making centers). This shows up in our life all the time. For example, we struggle to follow through, even when it’s something we want to do. Then when we give it our best effort, we often fall short. We love things we shouldn’t and resist things that are good. We get angry, tired, distracted, bored and then instead of taking ownership and doing better, we blame, get bitter and resentful and multiply hurt to ourselves and others. The Bible calls this sin, and we all must deal with its effects! 

 

Instead of being wholehearted we are hole-hearted. 

 

The Bible gives us a helpful image to understand both the problem and the solution to our hole-heartedness: “the tree.” 

 

Consider how the image of a tree works its way through Scripture. There are no wasted words in the Bible. 

 

There was a tree planted in the garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:17 it says, “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” The obvious question you might want to ask is, “Why did God put it there?” It’s a good question! But be careful, asking it can quickly become a way to blame God for our behavior. Here’s another question to ask, after God made the consequences so clear, why did Adam and Eve do exactly what He told them not to? Why do we? 

 

There are many times in our lives that we know full well the consequences of the decisions we’re about to make. We’ve made the same decision before and suffered the same way every time. Yet, when faced with the decision again, we ignore the consequences and do it anyway. Then we get mad at God and others for putting the “tree” there. 

 

 

The formula for building a satisfying and life-long marriage does not primarily hinge on picking the right person. 

 

If that sentence causes you to bristle a little, I get it. It directly contradicts a popular idea about relationships that suggests there is someone out there who perfectly “fits” you, and all you need to do is find them and you will know, “They’re the one.” We all long for a, ‘happily ever after,’ and it would be awesome if it could simply be found. This romantic idea makes for a touching movie plot, and maybe a sentimental anniversary card, but it is not biblical; it is not even realistic. 

 

Here are some statistics about marriages in the U.S.: 41% of first marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. For second marriages it’s 60%, and 73% of third marriages end in divorce. And yet, no one shows up at the altar to get married because they’re hoping to suffer a lot of pain! What’s going on here? Most of us have been deeply affected by broken marriages. It is painful, disruptive, and costly on every level. 

 

Here’s the sobering reality: you cannot enter the most important human relationship you will ever have with a short-term, shallow, romantic, fleeting, ideological sentiment. And you cannot experiment with sex and sexuality, the glue that is intended to hold this most central relationship together, without consequences. It’s going to take everything you and your future spouse have to make it work, and it will still be hard. The Bible does not pull any punches on describing the level of commitment required in marriage. 

 

Genesis 2:24 says, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” 

 

You cannot get anymore committed than, “one flesh.” 

 

Jesus was asked about marriage and divorce, in Matthew 19:2-9, here’s what He said,  

 

“Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired. “What did Moses command you?” He replied. They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.” 

 

But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 

 

So, what can we take from Jesus’ teaching about the answer to our issues in marriage and intimacy, i.e., what is the thing that a satisfying, life-long marriage primarily hinges on? Well, it is NOT some squishy idea about finding the one. All human relationships and interactions have the potential to be enriching, fulfilling, enlightening, fun, challenging, satisfying etc. The thing that moves any relationship in this direction is commitment! This is most essentially true in marriage where we take it all the way to the level of a spiritual covenant with vows and everything. 

 

The Westminster High School Theatre Program proudly presents its production of INTO THE WOODS on Thursday and Friday, March 7 and 8, at 7 p.m. in The Lighthouse Theater.

Embark on a magical journey with a whimsical and enchanting musical where fairy tales come to life. Join us for an evening of laughter, lessons, and Christian values as our talented students bring these timeless stories to the stage. Don't miss the magic – join us for "Into the Woods" and be inspired by the joy of storytelling with a twist!

PURCHASE TICKETS

 

Have you ever met someone and after a brief interaction felt like you’d known them for years? Maybe they love the same sports or have read the same books. Maybe you found out some little things you have in common like playing dungeons and dragons or playing pranks on others. Maybe you share a birthday, or your families come from the same country or hometown or neighborhood. When you meet someone like this, there is an instant connection, like you’ve found a long-lost sibling. You might call a person like this your soulmate. 

 

There is something profound and powerful about being with someone you can relate to and connect with at this level. Being known and understood is a deep, deep desire of our heart and a person like this often leaves us feeling known and loved. Do you have a soulmate? 

 

I think there is a romanticized idea floating around saying there is a soulmate out there for all of us. But is that a realistic idea? We’ve all stood in grocery store checkout lines to see the tabloid covers advertising the latest breakups and dramas playing out between famous people who just a year ago had been labeled as soulmates. 

 

What’s going on here? Who’s lying to us and what’s their aim? For the tabloid editors the motive seems clear, to sell magazines and make money. Maybe it’s easy to dismiss their use of soulmate to make a buck. But what do we do about our own genuine experience of betrayal, our wounds, and the times we’ve been abandoned by those we at one time thought of as soulmates? 

 

Parents are encouraged to attend an informational meeting on Monday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. in The Lighthouse regarding the Washington, D.C. trip.

Immediately after the meeting, the College Counseling Center will also share important information about high school course selection.  

 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Middle School Kickball Tournament scheduled for February 3 has been cancelled.  If you and your family registered for the event, you will receive a refund for tickets purchased. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

by John Bishop, Director of Spiritual Formation

What makes someone your bestie? Common interests? Similar outlooks on life? Your families have been friends your whole lives? Trust? Or maybe it’s something less innocent like peer pressure, proximity, or guilt. There are a lot of complicated reasons why we choose to spend time with people; why we might throw around a term like Bestie. 

 

Relationships are central to most everything we do and think about. From the moment we’re born and look up to our parents, and every day after, our lives are filled with relationships. We are bound to each other, for better or worse. Because of this it is important to formulate our beliefs about relationships. So how do we think about what we want from others and what do we think about our responsibility to others? And where do we turn to formulate these beliefs? 

 

I think most of us would say that what we want from our bestie is to be acknowledged. To be seen, known, understood, loved, accepted, treated justly and kindly etc. But, often, even with our best friends, this is not always the case. You get (or at least feel) rejected. You must navigate complicated situations where being associated with one person gets you in trouble with another. Loyalties shift, interests wane, tensions arise, people change. This catches us off guard because it’s not what’s presented on social media feeds, movies, and music. Even though the closing scene of Grease shows Sandy and Danny riding into the sunset like everything is going to work out, we all know that the drama will continue tomorrow. It always does. 

 

Our ES Athletic program is designed to nurture essential soccer skills while also having fun! We believe in the power of teamwork. Your student will learn to pass, kick, and work together as a team. It's not just about goals; it's about creating memories at a young age. Practices are held on the ES field on Monday and Wednesday directly after school and led by Coach Ale and Coach Ty. Our preschool team also plays against other local schools on the weekend at either Coral Reef Park of Miami Dades Kendall Campus. 

Space is limited. Register today.

Calling all middle school parents and their children to join us for a day of fun at the Middle School Kickball Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Gutierrez Field and in the SAC.

Have fun playing slip 'n slide kickball and backyard games, and enjoy shaved ice, a barbecue lunch and more! The cost to join the fun is $10/person. 
 
Register and Pay Online Today
 
Check-in begins at 10 a.m. Games begin promptly at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch. See you there!

I think if you ask 10 people what the best cardio exercise is you will get 10 different answers, and you might get a lot more information than you bargained for. In fact, I typed, “The best cardio” into Google to see what might come up and there was an endless list of options. Of course, that’s because there are endless ways to get your body moving and your heart pumping. It also depends on your goals. If you want to lose weight, that’s very different from if you’re trying to build muscle while decreasing your BMI. 

 

There is, after all, a wide gap between HIIT and dance classes, but both activities will get your heart pumping, both are great cardio options. You can swim, run, do burpees, row, jump rope, get a membership in a climbing gym, walk around your block briskly, or go to bootcamp to join the Marines. Every one of these activities will get your heart pumping and will benefit you physically.  

 

But with all our focus on health, fitness, and physique, have we forgotten that our hearts are more than a muscle? 

 

Have you ever been startled by something and discovered that your heart was racing? Have you ever held your breath and found after a little while that your heart was pounding in your ears? Have you ever had a near miss in traffic and experienced that flood of adrenaline and struggled to “calm your nerves.” 

 

Your physical heart is connected to your emotions, thoughts, relationships, successes and failures, fears, and hormones. Your heart beats like you’d just done ten burpees even while you’re sitting on a roller coaster or laid back in a soft chair in a movie theater. 

 

Considering all of this, I think we need to aim a little deeper when considering the question, “What’s the best cardio?” If you strengthen the muscle of your heart so you can run a marathon, but you never deal with the strife at home, you won’t have peace. Maybe you can sprint to the top of the stadium steps ten times in a row without slacking your pace, but how does your heart do when it’s rejected by your best friend? Perhaps you’ve had success trimming the inches on your waistline, but do you trust God with your finances, safety, and future? 

 

I got frustrated the other day after realizing that I’d forgotten to turn on Strava before the three-mile walk I’d just finished. I said out loud in frustration, “I don’t get credit if it’s not tracked!” The people I was with laughed at me, rightfully so. 

 

On the other hand, I find that tracking metrics like distance, speed, or reps is an essential part of building and maintaining an effective fitness plan. And when I look back on my week, it helps me to stay more consistent if I’ve tracked what I’ve done. For me, I don’t know if I’m pushing myself to an appropriate stress level if I don’t know how far, how fast, or how many I did last time. 

 

A few years ago, I was training for a big race and picked up a book I thought might be helpful called The Triathletes Training Bible, By Joe Friel. You’ll need to read the book to get accurate technical details, but here’s one of the things I took away from it: to build endurance you need to maintain peak exertion over a set distance largely independent of time. And central to all his biometrics is an accurate heart rate. 

 

If you walk three miles and your heart rate never picks up, then you can say you had a nice stroll. You can celebrate that you were active, and perhaps the casual walk is significantly better than sitting in a desk chair with respect to overall health choices, so it is an unequivocal success! On the other hand, if you walk three miles today and your heart rate skyrockets – your Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Vital or whatever reads 125 bpm, that is an entirely different story! You are working hard, and your body is telling you through your heart rate that it is responding to accommodate the effort.