At the beginning of school, August 30, 2013, I wrote my first blog as head of school at Grace.
Blogging was a relatively new thing then, and I didn’t want to do it because it always struck me as a little narcissistic to think that you would write something that anyone would actually want to read.
Back then I had pretty much determined not to do it, until that one school mom in the carpool line stopped me the second day of school in August 2013 to tell me that something I had written earlier that month had been really meaningful to her, so much that it was going to change an aspect of how she parented for the better. That hit me pretty hard. God used that sweet lady (whose kids are now amazing adults out of college) to teach me that writing is an act of obedience, worship, and faithfulness. Over the years, sometimes God would use it to impact other people’s lives, and sometimes he would just use it to change me.
So, I started this blog. Because we’re pretty complex people here at Grace, we decided to call it “Jay’s Blog.” Because, you know, my name is Jay, and I write the blog. It’s easy to Google; if you do it, this blog is number three, behind the Toronto Blue Jays’ blog, and “Jay’s Brick Blog,” by a guy who blogs about building things with Legos. Even though I’m number three on that list, the Blue Jays haven’t been any good for over a decade now, and, let’s face it, how many blogs can you really read about Legos? So, the way I figure it, the first reason you should read this blog is because it’s the highest-ranked blog on Google under the heading “Jay’s Blog” that’s actually (mostly) readable.
When I wrote that first blog, I gave some other reasons why I thought you should bother reading it, but it’s been a minute since then, and all but three of you weren’t around. Since then, by God’s grace, people all around the country (and, thanks to some of the blogs being reprinted by ACSI, around the world) have read it. People I meet and know who are in the school business all over tell me they read and have read it. There’s a guy in Alaska who I’ve never met but who the analytics tell me reads it regularly. I never imagined that God would use it like he has (especially Alaska guy). And, I know it’s God who has done that, because if you read it very often, you may wonder why so many of those people outside of GraceLand have read it and do read it. I know I do.
And, yet, I never wonder why you, my school family, should read it, because you’re the main ones I’m writing for. You’re the one God puts on my mind and my heart. You are the one that God has given me a love for, as the head of this school, even when I don’t particularly want to love you. Because, let’s face it—you and I are both hard to love. God has given us each other, broken and hurting bundles of confusion who also happen to be his beloved, sons and daughters of the Most High God, heirs to the kingdom of heaven. You should read this blog because the audience is you.
I learned long ago that this head of school gig is a pastoral one. I’ve married and buried kids, and visited them and their families in hospitals. I’ve prayed for them, wept for them, and contended with Satan over them. But, even though I’m a pastor, I don’t stand in a pulpit. This blog is my pulpit, and it’s how I share God’s Word and the heart of this school with you.
I write the blog because I love your kids. I love how cute they are when they’re babies, how funny they are when they’re in early elementary, and they want to give me hugs and high fives in the hallway, and think I own the school (I always tell them it’s actually Jesus who owns it). I love how awkward they are in middle school (and, they’re all awkward, not just yours); I love the process of watching them becoming, as difficult and perplexing as it may be to their moms and dads.
I love watching them bloom into beautiful young men and women, watching some of them walk out of here knowing who they want to be in deep relationship with Jesus, and some without a clue and as far from Jesus as possible. And, I love when they come back a few years later, like the young alum in my office the other day, the one who came back just to tell me how much he now loved Jesus, how he’s left all that old stuff behind him, and how sorry he was for all the trouble he gave us in high school. Oh, buddy, if you only knew that the pain you were back then was just birthing the joy you’ve become in Jesus—we loved you just as much then as now.
You should read this blog because no one gave you the playbook when you became a mama or daddy, and the reason there isn’t one is because you were created and intended to live in community—to raise your kids alongside others, many of whom have gone before you, and who love you and want to help you learn from their mistakes and from their wisdom. I’ve learned a lot from many really, really wise moms and dads over the years, and Lord knows Ashley and I have made plenty of mistakes. This may not be that magic playbook, but reading this blog from time to time will help you become a better parent, if that sweet lady in the carpool line in elementary all those years ago and many other parents who have told me since are to be believed. And who doesn’t want to be a better parent?
Finally, you should read this blog because all week, every week, I ask him what he wants me to say to you. Pastor and author Mark Batteson says that, for him, writing is praying with a keyboard, and I agree. Every week, God gives me something to say. That doesn’t mean that everything I write in here is God’s word for you—I’m always really careful to not be the guy who says, “God told me to tell you…” unless he absolutely did (and that would be a very rare, one-on-one conversation). But I can tell you that he does give me the words I say here, so I do know it’s there for somebody that week, and that somebody might be you. If I say something you don’t agree with, feel free to email me, but first, ask yourself if what I’m saying is God’s truth. Is it biblical? If not, by all means, please challenge me—don’t let me get away with that. But, if it is, please just sit with it a while and let it challenge you. Then, let’s talk.
I know there’s a lot of stuff in your buzz feed, and you may not want to read it every week, and that’s okay with me. But reading a blog because someone out there is writing it who loves your kids and who loves you, who wants to help you become a better parent and a follower of Jesus, and who asks the Lord to give you something to think about and challenge you every week seems like a way better use of your time than that other article in your feed summarizing the game you actually already watched, doesn’t it? Give me a try every now and then. Thank you for your time and for eleven years of hanging in there with me.
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