Seeking God First This School Year

By: Jan Lashbrook
Think of the last time you misplaced, lost, or searched for something. Your search and rescue quest probably demanded time, attention, and energy – did it not? CCA’s Early Childhood Director Jan Lashbrook shares the spiritual connection between her hunt for seashells with her grandkids this summer and CCA’s discipleship theme word for this school year.

“Blessed are those who keep His statutes and SEEK Him with all their heart.” –Psalm 119:2

The kids are back to school, and a new year of learning is officially underway!

Every year at Calvary Christian Academy, a community-wide discipleship theme is chosen by school leadership to help guide students, families, and staff as they develop their relationship with Christ. This theme is emphasized throughout the school year within the classroom, in chapels and small groups, and in hallway art as a visual reminder.
We ALL need to be reminded to seek the Lord diligently with all our hearts.
The theme for the 2022-23 school year is SEEK, which is based on Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

I love this theme, because not only will it come alive in very concrete ways for our students this year, but we ALL need to be reminded to seek the Lord diligently with all our hearts. This year, Lower School students at CCA will be learning that a disciple of Jesus SEEKS him by:

  • S – Surrendering Daily

    As students yield to God’s desires for their behavior and daily choices, He brings peace and the power to live righteously through the Holy Spirit (James 1:22).

  • E – Exhibiting Godly Character

    As our students display godly character to their peers, they will reflect Christ and draw others to Him (Matthew 5:16).

  • E – Encouraging Others

    Students will learn that God wants them to encourage their peers in righteousness and be an example that others can follow (I Thessalonians 5:11).

  • K – Being a Knowledge-Seeker

    Students will understand that daily time with God will result in a wisdom and knowledge that is life-changing (Matthew 7:7-8).

Our theme came alive for me over the summer as I spent time with my kids and grandkids at the beach. Usually, the Fort Lauderdale beaches are calm and serene like a bathtub in the first few weeks of July, but this year the ocean was about as rough as the Pacific Ocean. Seaweed was everywhere. It was hard to even enter the water, much less swim in it.

I always hunt for shells with my grandkids, as they love to find some new ones each summer. We typically hang out on the shoreline and leisurely collect the garden variety of shells, but this year was different. The seaweed covered the surf coming in and the ocean was so rough that it kept knocking us down. About the time we’d find a pretty shell, the waves would carry them back out. It was frustrating, but we hung in there and kept looking, falling, getting up, navigating through seaweed, trying to grab a shell, and falling again.
It was frustrating, but we hung in there and kept looking, falling, getting up, navigating through seaweed, trying to grab a shell, and falling again.
After a while, we were rewarded for our persistence and pursuit. We started to find shells like we had never found before. They were caught by a small shelf in the sand right below the water’s edge, probably carried in by rough surf due to storms. The girls were squealing with excitement as we brought up some beautiful and unusual shells.

In Matthew 7:7-8, He promises us: “Ask and it will be given to you; SEEK and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Sometimes life is hard. It’s easier to be lazy and whine about our circumstances instead of diligently seeking out what God has to say about our situation. It’s not always easy or convenient to take the time to truly seek the Lord through daily time in His Word or to live righteously as He commands, but when we do, He reveals nuggets of truth that we’ve never seen before.
It’s not always easy or convenient to take the time to truly seek the Lord through daily time in His Word or to live righteously as He commands, but when we do, He reveals nuggets of truth that we’ve never seen before.
When we persistently and diligently seek Him daily, the scales fall off our eyes, and they are open to what He is trying to show us. Truth is revealed; lies are exposed.

When we seek Him with all of our hearts, He will reward us with answers to our deepest questions, strength for the day, and wisdom for tomorrow. That’s what He does. That’s who He is.
When we seek Him with all of our hearts, He will reward us with answers to our deepest questions, strength for the day, and wisdom for tomorrow.
I hope you will join us in our drive to SEEK the Lord diligently with all of our hearts and put Him first this year and always!

 
Jan Lashbrook is the director of Calvary Christian Academy’s Early Childhood program, overseeing our Pre-K and Preschool programs. Jan holds a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Liberty University. She and her husband are “empty-nesters,” having raised three children who are all grown and married. Their youngest, Shawn, attended CCA for 12 years, graduating in 2012.

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