Tuesday, August 25, 2015

My, how much you've grown!

     When I was a kid, one of the things I hated the most was family reunions.  Essentially, it boiled down to spending the day with a bunch of old people that my grandmother was convinced I was intimately close with, but in reality, I didn't have a clue who they were.  One by one, they would come by and pinch my cheeks, or pat my head, and say, "My, how much you've grown!  I remember when you were knee-high to a june bug!".  Inevitably, that initial comment would be followed by "I'll bet you have lots of girlfriends, don't you.  Are they pretty?  Do you tell them you love them?"  The worst was my Uncle Claude, who seemed to have a passion for tormenting me about my relationship with girls, while Aunt Geraldine would cackle and laugh in the background.  It was agony to a young boy, and caused my brothers and I to desperately ask to get out of all future family events.  Of course that request was quickly denied, so the tradition continued until I escaped to college. 
     Since then, I have realized that all those comments that I hated can really be funneled down into one particular statement: "time flies".  What Claude and Geraldine were really saying (whether they knew it or not) is that in what seems like the blink of an eye, an infant grows into a boy, who quickly becomes a young man interested in girls, and before you know it, he is married and producing infants of his own. 
     As HCA approaches its 20th birthday celebration next week, we have been reminiscing about the early days of the school.  Pictures, old jumpers, bumper stickers, and scrapbooks have been coming out of the woodwork in the last few weeks, and as the first day of school has come and gone, I share Geraldine's sentiment with many of our returning students, "My, how they have grown over the summer", coupled with the continued amazement of the overall growth of the school since September 5, 1995. 
     It has caused me to look at my own house, and lament/celebrate the fact that Gayle and I no longer have any little ones.  Our oldest daughter, Kristen, was in the first TK class in the fall of 1999, HCA's fourth year of existence.  Sydney soon followed, then Amy, Sam, Julia, and Levi, who just celebrated his 10th birthday.  (Levi was born the day before school started in 2005, which made for a pretty crazy week for the Headmaster and wife that year, but that is for a later blog).  While preparing the big recognition of Levi moving to double digits last week, we came across a photograph of him being surrounded by his siblings on his day of birth.  The older ones decided to recreate that picture for fun.  Here it is:

By the way, Levi is wearing the same hat in both pictures.  I guess they are pretty stretchy!

     For those of you in the beginning stages of parenting, or putting your child in school for the first time, we are so excited to share the adventure with you!  I will be the first to tell you to enjoy every day of the ride.  It really does go faster than you can imagine when you are in the middle of changing diapers, packing lunches, or saying 'no' for the thousandth time.  Before you know it, they are adults themselves, with plans and dreams of their own.  The parenting process is simultaneously painful and fulfilling, and the only keys to success are quality time from you and help from God. 

     And what is success?  It is not college acceptance or the high paying dream job.  It is not even a great spouse and kids, as great as those things can be.  As our school verses state, true success comes a full understanding and knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ, which produces love, unity, encouragement, wisdom, and knowledge.  If our kids can walk away from the house in 18 years with all of these things intact, they are in great shape.  HCA is humbled to be able to partner with you again this year as we watch our kids grow up together, and as we seek God's help in giving us success. 

"that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 
                                                                                                                  Colossians 2:2-3

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