Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
December 24, 2011
Christmas Wishes!
Here are a few Christmas wishes for 2011.
1. To Albert Pujols: I hope that all the money makes up for the fact that you had the opportunity to be the greatest sports icon in the most positive and rabid baseball town (Philly is more rabid, but negative) in the world. You left because they did not respect you?!?!?! C’mon man! They loved you. Good luck with this in an invented place. Coal for you!
2. To Jimmy Rollins: Love for you in the city of brotherly love. May your commitment to stay be as blessed as possible. Maybe another ring under the tree?
3. To Wendell Berry: Recently reading some of your best paragraphs. Brilliant! May you have a quiet and peaceful day with your family gathered round…and a good walk through a familiar and thick woods.
4. To Peter Leithart: Your blog is a blessing to read, but I fear that you might be reading, thinking, and writing too fast. You’re both and inspiration and a mystery. My wish for you is a long night’s sleep. Enjoy.
5. To the United States: A new government. This one is broken and its pettiness (on both sides) is making me sort of dread opening the paper in the morning. We borrow 40% of every dollar we spend. 40%!!!! We need an intervention. Hope it comes in 2012.
6. To my faculty and staff: Good work this year. Sleep soundly over break.
7. To my students: Drink deeply from the fountains of life. Christ Himself is the deepest fountain. Love God first with all your heart and do whatever you please with all of your heart!
I am going to try to go without my computer for a few days—this will feel like Linus without a blanket. See you in the New Year!
Posted in Culture, Faith, Family, Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Dear Families,
Recently, I learned of an upcoming opportunity for families at our school to host some students from overseas for two weeks in the Spring of 2012. I need to respond quickly to let the mission organization (represented by our own Karen Kuch) know quickly whether we would be interested in hosting these students. Saying “yes” now does NOT commit you to doing it, but to considering it. This hosting would entail providing food and lodging for two students for two weeks. Most of the students will be from China and some might be from families that are considering working with the missions organization to send their child here to America for schooling at a Christian school like Veritas. They will be visiting classes here at Veritas for some of the days during their visit. (more…)
Tags: Veritas Academy
Posted in Education, Family | 1 Comment »
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
At the beach I also finished the interesting book Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler (who, it should not be shocking, grew up Amish). It was enjoyable and informative. The church where I serve as an officer—All Saints Church in Akron—has been blest to have a few new attenders that are coming from the Amish community. This is not something that I expected, but it has been a wonderful blessing. I read the book to know more about the situation these people are facing. I am not sure how much the book taught me concerning this (my Amish friends are anything but typical), but it was an enjoyable read. I also dined with my post-Amish friends on Sunday and they affirmed that the book has a lot of truth about what many Amish deal with when they choose the life and when they reject it. (more…)
Tags: Amish
Posted in Faith, Family, Local News | 2 Comments »
Monday, June 13th, 2011
I try to avoid being too personal on this blog. I read very few blogs and I am consistently sort of astounded about what people share and what they would think to share.
Today, however, I cannot avoid being a little personal. Indulge me. Sixteen years ago last Friday, June 10th, I answered one of the most fearful of all questions with a simple “I do.” For those two words (four if you count Emily’s), I have enjoyed 16 blessed years with the best person I know. Together we have faced a number of challenges—more are coming. Every day (the good ones and the bad ones) is better because I have her. I am blest more than I can say. Thank you Emily.
Posted in Family | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
This is the time of year when our seniors get the mail for their parents religiously. They are getting acceptance letters in the mail from colleges now. (Please pray that God would give them and their parents guidance as they consider their options.)
Veritas works hard to prepare students for life, but preparing them for further study—at college and university—is important as well. Back near the beginning of our school, parents wondered whether colleges and universities would accept students from a small Christian school like ours. Now, people do not wonder about that any more. Here is a brief and incomplete list of schools where graduates from Veritas have been accepted:
Princeton, University of Saint Andrews (Scotland), Grove City, Hillsdale, University of Pittsburgh, The University of Southern California, The University of Arizona, Elizabethtown College, Temple, Penn State, Virginia Tech Honors College, Carnegie Mellon, Syracuse, Millersville Honors College, and F&M. (more…)
Tags: Graduation, Post Secondary Education
Posted in Education, Family | 1 Comment »
Friday, January 28th, 2011
I have written in this blog about vouchers recently. I have real fears that vouchers could be used by the state as a Trojan Horse to co-opt and control private education. Today, I found a reason to be for them:
Vouchers a Poor Plan for Poor Schools
Jeff Hawkes article against vouchers is so slanted that it makes me want to be for vouchers. The problem that he fails to see is that vouchers are not there to “help poor schools”. They are a way for some poor kids to escape failing school districts. The first estimate that was mentioned in the paper was that 70% of the McCaskey students would be eligible. If my kids were trapped in a failing district, I would move heaven and earth (if I could) to get them out.
The underlying assumption in this article is that failing districts could answer all the problems of these children if they just had more money or that the real problem is that these children have poor (economically speaking) parents. He believes that the real problem is “economic segregation”. This phrase is as meaningless as it is incendiary. Segregated from what? By whom? He is obviously sort of insinuating something using Jim Crow language—it is hard to tell what he means or what he thinks the fix is.
Here is my assertion: Poor schools should be poor schools—i.e., schools that fail at education should have less funds. Mr. Hawkes it seems cares more about preserving poor schools rather than helping poor students.
Slow train still coming down the tracks. Vouchers would speed it up.
Tags: public education, Vouchers
Posted in Education, Family | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Last week, in the paper a story of almost unspeakable horror appeared on the front page. A doctor in Philadelphia was murdering pre-born babies, partially born babies, (maybe) fully born babies, and his office and equipment was so atrocious that the women were dying too. His office was called a “house of horrors”. The article is full of shock and disgust because he murders partially or fully born children by “snipping” their spinal column at the neck.
It is telling, isn’t it, that our culture is revolted by his murder of the partially born and ok with his murder of pre-born. If we can see it, it is a horror; if we cannot, it is a “constitutional right.” We are working up a fairly potent case of judicial blindness. The slow train of God’s judgment is coming down the track. We hear this and we don’t understand what this means. Here is my summary: The monsters are coming! The monsters are here! They have names like Kermit Gosnell and look respectable. And what is worse….we deserve it. We have winked and are winking at sexual stupidity. We try deftly to sweep the results under the rug, but the voices of the murdered children cry out from the ground. His ear hears their cry. The slow train is coming. It picks up speed every moment. No defense will be adequate to turn it away.
The article
Tags: abortion
Posted in Culture, Family | No Comments »
Monday, December 20th, 2010
Last night, our nation took another step in the wrong direction by changing the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy (which was, all will admit, a very flawed policy—which I think more than almost anything points to the pragmatism of President Clinton).
Because I am a believer I know from many biblical passages (Romans 1 being perhaps the most pointed) that homosexuality is wrong. Our country and almost of all of the Christian West has affirmed this truth for thousands of years under the tutelage of the Scriptures. Today, we are going back on this long held cultural belief. As we do this, we are justifying our changes on the grounds of “justice” and “fairness” and “equality” implying, of course, that what we did in the past was unjust, unfair, and prejudiced.
Before beginning this discussion let me make a few things clear. First . . . .
(more…)
Posted in Culture, Faith, Family, Military, Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
You might have seen the encouraging headline in the paper a few days ago: “Drug Use Down at Manheim Township”. Here is a link to the entire story and to the graph behind it:
Drug Use Down at Manheim Township article
Drug Use Graph
Seeing it, initially, I was encouraged. The story, however, (rightly) spends a lot of it time poking holes in the data. (more…)
Tags: drug use, parenting, public education
Posted in Culture, Education, Family | No Comments »
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