Rose, Thorn and Banana

Our family often plays a game called Rose, Thorn and Banana during meal times.

We go around each family member and ask them to share about their day.

• Rose is something for which they are thankful.

• Thorn is something that has been difficult or sad.

• Banana is something that made them laugh.

It’s a great way to spark conversation, to encourage gratitude and also to acknowledge the different challenges we all face from day to day.

So how about my rose, thorn and banana for the past week?

“It’s a great way to spark conversation, to encourage gratitude and also to acknowledge the different challenges we all face from day to day.”

My rose is seeing how my colleagues have responded to the incredibly complex and demanding task of preparing a distance learning curriculum. They have risen to the challenge with courage, enthusiasm and a willingness to push themselves out of their comfort zones. Staff have been striving to understand and adapt new forms of technology, working quickly to troubleshoot problems and going over and above to support each other. They are to be highly commended and appreciated.

My thorn has been seeing the many ways that our everyday lives have changed due to the pandemic. I miss seeing our students every day. I miss times of conversation and community in our classrooms. I grieve with those who are suffering severe stress and anxiety due to the health and economic problems that our nation is facing.

And my banana? In the midst of it all we have had some incredible laughs. Last week saw a range of student activities: a scavenger goose chase throughout the school, a surprise Easter egg hunt and many moments of laughter and comic relief. I am truly thankful for it all.

My children have added different categories to our game over the years. The category pancake refers to the favourite food we have eaten in our week. The category Christmas refers to something we are looking forward to. When I think of my Christmas—wow, the things I am looking forward to. I know that they are things I’ve taken for granted until very recently:

• Being in the same building with my church family, worshipping together

• Hugging my mum

• Hosting our Connect group in our house full of kids and noise and chaos and community

• Seeing our school once again full of students and activity

But more than all of this, I am longing to see what God will do in the midst of our world. I am longing for God’s healing of the sick and broken-hearted. Psalm 84 says, ‘my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God’. I know that many of you join me in that cry for God’s grace, mercy and peace to be poured out in our world.

Stelle Carmichael – Head of Students

Sustaining Community

I have rediscovered my love of teaching over the past few weeks. 

Don’t get me wrong, I had not lost my care for students or passion for seeing students learn. I had, however, come to see classroom teaching as just one of many roles in a full and varied portfolio of competing commitments. 

But the current health crisis has led to a reappraisal of personal and professional priorities for us all. As we witness the unfolding of health and economic crises in our state and country and face the implications of social distancing, I am re-evaluating activities and tasks that previously jostled for my time and energy. 

Connecting with my Psychology class this month has provided a hiatus from these competing commitments and a sanctuary from bombardment of news updates and social media feeds. Within the safety of the classroom, my students and I have adapted to new methods of teaching and resolved to continue learning despite the tumultuous nature of the world beyond the school. I have experimented with different ways of involving students who are accessing the classroom via distance learning. Not all of these experiments have been successful. However, learning has continued, along with robust discussion and lots of laughter. 

And I have come to love spending time with this class. Three times a week I leave the pressures of my leadership world and join my students on the journey towards a deeper understanding of Psychology. 

“Our familiar method of interacting is disrupted for a time—let’s make sure we continue to build the community for which we were created.”

My teaching style hasn’t changed. I still use my ‘tried and true’ (perhaps old fashioned?) methods and require all students—including those offsite—to take notes, answer questions and participate in activities. What has changed is my appreciation of the community within which learning occurs. 

We are designed this way. God Himself is community—the Triune three in one. Jesus operated in and through community while He was on earth, teaching and training His disciples and showing great love to the most basic structure of community, His immediate family. And we look forward to a renewed creation where we will live in perfect community with each other and with our creator. 

As we enter a time of change—one where our familiar method of interacting is disrupted for a time—let’s make sure we continue to build the community for which we were created. As a leadership team at Calvin we are working hard to develop learning activities and interfaces that allow teaching to continue. But equally important is sustaining the community within which learning occurs. This may be the more difficult challenge in the coming weeks and months, but we will be praying that students, parents and staff find creative new ways to connect as community at this time. 

Bonny Moroni – Head of Secondary

Fearless Wisdom

Faith and wisdom are not mutually exclusive. Having a strong reliance on faith does not mean we lack wisdom, and being wise does not imply we have a lack of faith.

In our current climate it’s important that these two traits are combined at the forefront of our thinking. 

In recent weeks, as we have been saturated with opinion and recommendations about the situation with novel coronavirus, I’m reminded of the illustration of the drowning man. It reads as follows:

 A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, "Jump in, I can save you."

The stranded fellow shouted back, "No, it's OK, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me." So the rowboat went on.

Then a motorboat came by. "The fellow in the motorboat shouted, "Jump in, I can save you."

To this the stranded man said, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith." So the motorboat went on.

Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, "Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety." To this the stranded man again replied, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith." So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, "I had faith in you but you didn't save me, you let me drown. I don't understand why!"

To this God replied, "I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

In our current context, faith is ultimately important as it helps bring spiritual, emotional and mental strength to us and our families. It is easy to get caught up in the hysteria of the world and be driven by fear and anxiety. Combating these emotions begins with faith in the promises we have from God. Joshua 1:9 states ‘This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ (NLT) When we believe these promises we have a strong foundation to uphold our faith, which leads to confidence and trust. ‘This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.’ (Psalms 91:2 NLT)

When we place our faith in God, we can begin to extend this and place faith in the people He has appointed before us to make important decisions (Romans 13:1). This includes school leaders, health experts, our national government, and you, as leaders of your household. As the illustration outlines, our faith in God needs to be combined with the wisdom He grants us to make sensible and informed decisions. Understandably, some families may be presented with different situations and need to apply this wisdom with different outcomes. As there is no ‘playbook’ for our current circumstances, putting our trust in God by applying faith and wisdom is my personal recommendation. 

No matter the choices we make in the coming days, as individual families or as a whole school body, when we put our faith in God and apply His wisdom, we can enter each new situation with fearless anticipation. A.W. Tozer encourages us to let our confidence in God be infectious and bring courage to the world around us with the following quote:  ‘A scared world needs a fearless church.’ I encourage you to continue to pray for wisdom, and have faith to believe that He will provide it. 

The latest communication from our CEO (previously circulated) about our response to the COVID-19 pandemic can be found here.

 Andrew Nash – Head of Primary