The Light

"Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" -John 8:12

www.harborlightchristian.org

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Dear Harbor Light families,

As we start the second half of the academic year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our shared mission of preparing the next generation of leaders for Christ. The past five months have flown by in a flash, which has made me appreciate the importance of making the most of each moment, especially when it comes to our students' education.

The seemingly quick passage of time this year made me think of the poem “Moments” (see the poem in the picture). I happened upon the poem nestled in a gift from Pastor Alex Norton, a Canadian elementary primer from 1895. The poem reminds us that time flies by so quickly. It is important that we make the most of each moment, each story read, each game watched, or each homework lesson completed.

As we move forward into this new month, I encourage us all to be mindful of how we spend our time and to focus on making a positive impact in the world around us. Our goal should be to grow in our faith, serve others, and bring glory to God through the use of our skills and abilities. We are responsible for being good stewards of our time and using it wisely to achieve our mission.

The past month has been filled with a range of exciting events and activities, including exams, winter fun day, winter formal game night, the grand opening of the Solid Rock Center, and numerous basketball games. Our students continue to excel both academically and spiritually, and we are proud of all that they have accomplished so far.

As the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens." Let us be mindful of the time we have and use it to fulfill the call that God has on our lives. I am grateful for your support and partnership in making every moment count at Harbor Light Christian School. Together, we can make a lasting impact on the lives of our students.

May your month be filled with joy and opportunities for growth and service in Christ.

In His Service,

Kelly Dutcher

February

17- No School Mid-Winter break/ Professional Development

20- No School Mid-Winter break

27- Girls Basketball Districts week begins

March

11- HLCS Jubliee (formerly the Spaghetti Dinner)

24- Spring Break starts

April

3- School resumes

Our HLCS Calendar is updated continually and can be viewed at http://www.harborlightchristian.org/calendar

Sports Schedule

• Please confirm events prior to attending
• "vs." indicates the game will be played at home.
• "@" indicates the game will be played at the opposing team's school.

February

21- JV Boys/Varsity Girls and Boys Basketball vs. Maplewood (4:30)

23- JV/V Boys Basketball vs Alanson (5:30)

24- JV/V Boys Basketball vs. Posen (5:30)

28- JV/V Boys Basketball vs. Brimley (5:30)

27- Girls Basketball Districts Week begins

March

6- Boys Basketball Districts Week begins

13- Baseball/Softball first practice

Please click HERE for the school calendar, which is updated continually.

Sophomore Truett Kruger nailed 11 3-pointers in a game on Valentine's Day, breaking a record for 3s in a single game held by Matt Amo for 25 years! Congratulations, Truett!

Were you unable to attend the Grand Opening?

Check out this amazing 3D tour of the facility by Wavebreak Media, owned by HLCS parents Amy and Dan Hasty!

https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=xUhwnBTbivQ

HLCS hired a new staff member this month! Jess Good will be joining the HLCS team on March 13th, managing the new commercial kitchen and offering a 5-day hot lunch service to our students beginning after Spring Break! She is the mother of 6th grader Jenna and 8th grader Emily, and has 29 years of experience working at McDonald's, many of those years in management. She has experience managing a team, ordering/preparing/serving food, as well as passing health inspections. Join us in giving a warm welcome to Jess!!

We have a new segment in our monthly newsletter where we ask a parent to review a helpful parenting book or podcast, the goal being to equip our families with as many useful resources as possible to build you up as moms and dads. If you want to submit an idea for review, please reach out to Kelly Dutcher kdutcher@harborlight.org

This month's review is from our amazing 5th grade teacher and mom of Kate, Cara, Will, and Corin, Amy Paulus.

The past two summers I have listened to the audio book: Love-Centered Parenting: The No-Fail Guide to Launching Your Kids by Crystal Paine.

It's a book I listened to slowly the first time and then listened to again because I wanted to see if I had put into practice any of the lessons I gleaned from my first read. I initially found Crystal Paine and her blog Money Saving Mom when I was couponing to save our growing family money. I enjoyed her pragmatic yet focused insights into saving money and budgeting. When she released a parenting book, I was a bit skeptical because it seemed out of her area of expertise. I didn't even make it through the first chapter, and I knew this was a book that would challenge me.

Crystal writes about one of her children being kicked out of a Christian school for bullying, and about dealing with a child who struggles with depression. It isn't written in a way that deals with the child or a step by step of how to parent better and change your child...Instead she talks about what the challenges did in her. It made her examine if she was truly parenting her child from a place of love or from a place of fear...fear of her reputation. Fear of what others would think. If there was one thing Crystal and her family did well it was setting goals and achieving them. So, this new realization that it wasn't about meeting goals or achieving high standards but about meeting her child right where they were was life-altering.

My biggest take away from this book was: Why am I making this parenting choice? What is my motivation? Am I meeting my child where they are, or expecting them to meet me where I think they should be? Don't get me wrong, and I think she'd agree: Parenting is about teaching and training in righteousness, but it's also about recognizing our children are fallible humans and treating them the way Christ treats us. Parenting children is hard. This book has helped me remember to keep the most important thing, important. I want my child to know they are loved. I want to listen...not to diagnose...not to fix...but to be in relationship with them. I want to point them to the One who lets me know that in my imperfectness, I am perfectly loved, and they are too.

Mark and Chelsea Spencley moved to Harbor Springs in 2016, shortly after they were married. Mark is a lifelong northern Michigan resident, having been raised in Levering and graduating from Mackinaw City Public School. Chelsea is originally from Canton, but moved to Petoskey to pursue a career in nursing in 2012. Despite meeting at McLaren Northern Michigan, neither remains in the nursing field. Mark owns a utility contracting business and Chelsea stays home caring for their two daughters, Ellie and Gracie.

Ellie (5) and Gracie (4) both attend Harbor Light Christian School. The girls love everything about HLCS, notably the community of friends they’re building and the wonderful environment. Chelsea volunteers in the preschool classroom and loves her time there. As a family, they look forward to everything the coming years will bring as Ellie and Gracie grow at Harbor Light.

The Spencleys enjoy all things outdoors. Summer beach trips, walks, and berry picking are tops on the list. When the leaves start to change, their interests remain outside. Mark is an avid hunter and took the entire family on a successful hunt last October. Miracles do happen. In the winter, they love Christmas, traveling South, and waiting for spring.

WHAT IS IT?

...the very question the Hebrews asked when Manna came down from God each day. As a Nurse Practitioner and a Mother, this is the very question I frequently asked myself each day in the clinic or my home.

What is it? Here at HLCS, we ask this question each day. Students arrive in the office with a

rash, a hive, a tummy ache, a headache, a feeling of general malaise, or an elevated

temperature. We assess the complaint and decide on a plan of care.

A rash is often caused by a virus, current or post viral. It could be from something irritating the skin, multiple other issues or anxiety.

Hives are often a sign of an allergy or anxiety.

Tummy aches might be from a virus, a pending bowel movement (some children don’t

understand the process yet), hunger, other issues or anxiety.

Headaches could be from lack of sleep, hunger, allergies, menses, lights, migraine history, other issues or anxiety.

General malaise is commonly expressed as “Mrs. Beckman, I don’t feel good.” We can only

wonder how she determines the need in that case. Usually, a little talk, a little peppermint, little hug, and a big amount of love. That seems to quell the anxiety. If that doesn’t work, we look for a physical illness.

An elevated temperature is something we check for immediately upon arrival in the office with any physical complaint that seems viral. If elevated, you all will receive a call to come pick up your student.

As you may have noticed, I’ve mentioned anxiety in almost every scenario. We take your

student's complaint seriously, but there are times that students present to us with these symptoms when the real trouble is stress or fear. Students become anxious when something changes in their normal environment, or maybe they have a test, or a new person in their presence, or a variety of other situations that we may not see.

Symptoms of anxiety may include:

Irritability

Crying or clinging

Angry outbursts

Fidgeting

Difficulty sleeping

Waking at night/bad dreams

Frequent use of the toilet

Suddenly wetting the bed

Lack of confidence

Inability to face normal daily challenges

Inability to concentrate

Inability to eat

Negative thoughts/feeling something bad may happen

Avoidance of school activities, school friends, or going out in public

Any of the physical symptoms mentioned at the beginning of this letter.

I’ve noticed that the administrative staff and teachers are very concerned with finding just the

right kind of Holy Spirit care, guidance and comfort for your student. We want the HLCS

students to mature in a loving environment and become the person they are designed to be in

Christ. In the Old Testament, Manna represented the Bread of Life, or Jesus, our daily Bread of Life. We pray your student grows closer to the Lord by asking not “What is it?” but rather, “Who are you Lord?”

Our hope for our students to call on the name of Jesus each day to meet their needs for healing, both physical and emotional. We pray that they would reach out each day for their daily Bread, our Lord and Savior.

If you are concerned about persistent physical issues mentioned above or anxiety symptoms in your student, please contact your health care provider, counselor, Pastor, teacher, or other

medical providers as appropriate.

Blessings,

Suzanne Bucci

We have a couple former HLCS students who are now attending GLAA downstate. They will be performing at HLCS with their group, the Aerokhanas!

Harbor Light Community Chapel is hosting the Sidewalk Prophets, with an opportunity for 50 people to attend a more intimate meet-n-greet beforehand! See the Facebook event here, or click below to purchase your tickets!

Has HLCS had a positive or life-changing impact on your life or that of someone you love? Please share these stories with us so we can keep letting others know what a wonderful difference we can make! Send your experience to jcope@harborlight.org.

On March 11th our largest fundraiser of the year is happening - the HLCS Jubilee (formerly the spaghetti dinner)! We are expecting a fun night for a great cause! We have some great live auction items that you won't want to miss.

But, we could use your help! We still have a number of sponsorships available for this event and we always have room for more donated items! If you are interested in either of these options or attending the Jubilee please contact Jennie Cope at jcope@harborlight.org or by calling the school at 231-347-7859.

Below is more information:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RTOc4ZtmUAdK7Q6zzfJPd_yo430SmENS/view?usp=share_link

We are grateful to partner with Oleson's and D&W this school year. Receipts collected from these grocers may be dropped off in the office at any time! This is such an easy way to help the school raise money!