In preparing for Providence’s Thanksgiving festival, we have much to be thankful for as a school. As headmaster, I wanted to share with you just three of the things for which I am particularly praising God this season as I think about his blessings on Providence.
[quote style=”boxed” float=”right” source=”OUR VISION for a Classical School”]The gifts of God are many and new every morning. His promises to uphold us and make us new are sure, begun already in the resurrection of his Son. Thus, as a Christian school, our work as parents, students, and teachers is filled with hope. Though we face deep obstacles in a world filled with failings and false hopes, our horizon is defined by the hope that in Christ Jesus, God is making all things new.[/quote]
First, I never want to fail to recognize the blessing of serving in a school that prizes the Gospel. There is always the temptation to become forgetful of the glory of this privilege. That we fallen men should have before us the good news of the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ is a marvel. To be part of an institution of learning founded upon this good news of salvation is a particular blessing. May we always give thanks for this and may we pray that the Lord would be pleased to sustain and prosper his cause here to his glory.
Second, I want to note two aspects of the blessing of partnering with families such as those involved in Providence: their faithful love of their children and their sacrificial service to our community.
Serving as headmaster has afforded me the opportunity to get to know our families. What has struck me — family by family — is the sincere love that each one possesses for their children and for this community. Witnessing the loving commitment our families have to guiding their children reminds me that God’s grace is at work throughout all generations. His cause doesn’t begin or end with us. He began a work long ago, and it has never failed. He has been pleased to use parents to instruct their children in the way of truth through millennia, and he continues that work in us. In a culture that often sows division between parents and children, it is a joy to see families working together to pass on the faith to the upcoming generation. I am thankful for this.
Serving as headmaster also has given me a unique vantage point to observe how the sacrificial service of our Providence families builds up our community. Our parents wear many hats within the school. Indeed, our school would not exist were it not for the labors of our parents. From lunch monitors to field trip drivers, from focused prayer to serving on POPS, from categorizing insects to coaching cross country, our parents manifest their love for their children and for this community by serving. None of us is able to provide all that is needed in this community. However, the Lord has been pleased to raise up a great variety of gifts among us to meet one another’s needs. Without the vital gifts Providence parents employ for the school, Providence would fail, but united by God’s grace in a desire to see children equipped for lives of wisdom, virtue and eloquence we experience growth together. For the ways each of you reading this serves Providence, know that I give praise to God as we set aside time for Thanksgiving this week.
Prior to serving as headmaster, while I was a teacher at Providence, I recognized that it was a great privilege to serve alongside the men and women here. Their love for the truth and students, their many gifts and graces, and their desire to train the children were always quite evident. However, over the years more has come to light. These men and women are making many sacrifices to serve in this community. The time and selfless energy poured into this calling is not being done for the sake of financial gain, although the Lord has provided for the needs facing each one. Rather, these teachers realize God is calling them to serve as educators and administrative workers to partner with families to cultivate wisdom, grace, and truth in the students.
Each day sheds new light on what a wondrous privilege it is to be part of a school where brothers and sisters in the Lord, parents and teachers and administrators, are genuinely seeking the good of each child. The various sacrifices willingly and even gladly made by each of these servants in our community reminds me of what an honor it is to be part of this school. These are just a few of the blessings of life at Providence for which I hope you will join me in giving thanks.
— Mr. Jonathan Mattull, Headmaster