Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge

 

Every year at LCHS, Senior students anticipate with mild fear and trepidation the additional academic responsibilities required of them.  For those students in band or choir, their senior assignment is to prepare one piece to be performed at District Music Festival.  If the student receives a score of 1 at Districts, he/she then advances to State Music Festival.  This spring, we had three senior who were a part of music groups.  Gabriella organized a girls quartet singing, “It Only Takes A Little Love.”  Harry coordinated a quartet of all dorm students who sang, “How Can I Keep From Singing?”  Brady was a part of an octet that sang, “The Word” based on John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Harry’s quartet and the octet will advance to State Music Festival this weekend.

    

Another requirement for our seniors, in the academic finale of second semester, is to prepare a 15 minute chapel as an assignment for Bible class.  This is intended to give students the opportunity to share their personal spiritual salvation story or give evidence for a way that He has been working in the student’s life.  The students put a lot of heart and soul into these presentations.  Isn’t it difficult to share our personal story with others?  It leaves us feeling vulnerable.  What will others think of me now?

Have you read Ann Voskamp’s book, “One Thousand Gifts?”  This book encourages readers to find daily thankfulness.  Gabriella chose Thankfulness as her chapel topic.  Thankfulness gets us through the hard times, like moving across the world to play basketball.  Thankfulness gets us through being away from family, by allowing us to find a new family close by.  Harry shared with us his life story filled with pain and desperation.  At LCHS Harry has been introduced to the concept of God and His sovereignty.  In acknowledging who God is, Harry has been able to see how God has always been there carrying him through the troubled waters.  In a parallel concept, Brady spoke on personal trials.  He read extensively from Job’s life of heart ache.  He encouraged the student body with Jesus’s words in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  Also from 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  This year has been filled with personal struggles for Brady and yet he has found his strength in Christ to carry on.

    

The LCHS staff and community members look forward to these chapels.  The Bible tells us to always be ready to share the hope that we have in Christ.  This is a spiritual skill that we take seriously in cultivating in our students.   We want our teens to be prepared at LCHS to be successful in all manner of ways as they go into the adult world.