Issue 19. Who am I?... 20/6/2017

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1 Who am I?... 20/6/2017 Issue 19 Over the last 19 weeks I was gifted a rare opportunity to step out of the busyness of the day to day with all its expectations, plans, opportunities, pressures and joys. It wasn t what I planned or expected but it happened and so I spent the majority of the last 19 weeks doing not much really. In fact I did so little of the activities and tasks that I normally do that it soon became easy for me to start questioning what my identity, value and worth was. I wasn t contributing to the school community as I normally would. I wasn t contributing to my family life as I normally would. I wasn t contributing to the wider community in anyway. In fact it felt the complete opposite and at times I felt like a burden to my family and the school community. That type of thought was certainly reinforced by the values of the world as portrayed in the media where so much of identity is linked to your achievements and accomplishments and what you do, not who you are. Saying this normally would leave me feeling down in the dumps but as I stated at the start of this reflection the 19 weeks have been a blessing. When all that I had taken for granted and relied upon to define me was taken away I realized what I was left with. My family and friends continued to love and support me regardless of the fact I wasn t able to contribute to their happiness or well-being in any productive or meaningful way. I didn t need to earn their love. On Friday as I had the pleasure of being at our Friday chapel service for the first time in a long time, I was reminded again of how it works between God and me. My achievements, my accomplishments, my words and acts of kindness, my charitable donations, my striving to live a good life amount to nought when to comes to receiving God s love and forgiveness and his free gift of grace to us. I can t earn my identity as God s child. I can t earn God s grace and forgiveness or as Pastor Clayton put it, I can t earn my way into heaven. When I reached the point of accepting that I was OK because God says I m ok and that ultimately he has a plan for good from what had happened to me, I could find peace in my circumstance. In the times when I stopped stressing that I wasn t earning my worth I could rest in God s plan for my life and his acceptance of me. It s incredibly powerful and freeing to know you are OK despite what you can or can t do. Now that I m back I ll still be striving as best as I can to achieve, to live a good life that helps others and to be kind but I know that all of this is how I respond to God s unconditional love for me and how I take the opportunities to use the skills and abilities he has given me in service to others. I pray that whatever your circumstance you can rest comfortably knowing God s love and grace always remain a gift for you. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8. James Heyne Principal

2 What s on at St Mark s? Thank you It was a delight for me to return to St Mark s last Thursday after my extended absence. I ll be on site for half days for a few more weeks and hope to be back full time at the start of Term Three. I wish to thank you all for your kind words and messages of support during my recovery. I also wish to thank our amazing staff for their ongoing work during my absence and particularly our Deputy Principal Mrs Saracini and our Business Manager, Ms Wake for their leadership during this time. Our student s weekend achievements Last Sunday St Mark s students participated in two exciting but different events. Early on Sunday morning months of hard work and planning came together to provide our St Mark s Lutheran Lightning pedal prix team the chance to participate in their first race at Victoria Park. Their effort is a credit to the 8 Year 6 students and their families who have provided enormous support to them. We offer our congratulations to them on their efforts in finishing 24th in their category. A great effort. Later on Sunday we witnessed over 90 students delight us with their musical talents as we celebrated at our annual Sounds on Sunday. I stand in admiration of our students and their musical achievements. The event was a wonderful indicator of our quality music program at St Mark s. Again we thank our dedicated musical tutors who teach and support students, our band conductor Ms Christina Guala and particularly Mrs Steffan for her ongoing guidance and skills in coordinating and implementing our musical program at St Mark s. PD week I remind families that Term 2 concludes for students on Friday 30 th June. The following week is set aside for staff learning and development. A special event this year will be teaching staff attending the 5 th Australian Conference of Lutheran Education. Over 1,000 Lutheran educators from across Australia will gather in Adelaide for three days reflecting on the role and place of Lutheran education in meeting the needs of today s students and families. Camp Australia will be offering care for the week as well as the two weeks of the term break and their program can be found in today s newsletter. Chapel Our 1M class will lead our Friday chapel service this week. As usual we begin at 9:00am in our hall and coffee and chat for families follows chapel and is held in Janene Overton s room. Other dates for your diary. School Council tonight, June 20th SRC Casual Day June 23rd Parents and Friends PJ and Pizza Night June 24th School Assembly June 28th led by FS Parents and Friends Cupcake Day - June 29th End of Term 2 - June 30th Term 3 Commences - Monday July 24th Further information about all of these events as well as many others will be communicated through the school newsletter.

3 Congratulations to Kiara McInnes and Crystal Karayiannis who not only represented St Mark s but also the Barker District in the Year 6/7 SAPSASA netball team. During their carnival they played nine games and their team was able to secure 4 wins, well done girls! Also congratulations to Richard Fries and Charlie Main who have been successful in gaining selection in the Year 6/7 Boys and Girls Soccer SAPSASA teams. These two students will compete in Week 9 of Term 2, we wish them all the best and look forward to hearing about their results. Henry Bell has also been successful in getting into the Barker District Hockey Team and will also compete in Week 9. Good luck Henry! Thanks. Tyson Scott Book Club Final reminder for Book Club Orders. Orders and payment are due by tomorrow, Wednesday 21st June. Thank you, Mrs Paterson Teacher/Librarian RIVERLAND DRIED APRICOTS FOR SALE St Mark s Lutheran Church, Mt Barker are selling dried apricots at the moment, and they are offering them to all school families who may like to purchase a bag or two. Cost is $12.00 per 500g bag and all proceeds will aid Cambodia Mission Projects. Apricots can be picked up from the School Front Office.

4 SRC Casual Day Just a reminder that this Friday 23 rd June, the SRC will be holding a Casual Day. You can wear casual clothes and decorate your shoes/boots/gumboots in support of the Walk My Way appeal. It can be as simple as coloured shoelaces but you can get as creative as you like. We look forward to seeing some wonderful creations! Please note that your child can decorate and wear any shoes they wish; however for safety reasons, if they are not wearing enclosed shoes to school, they must bring these to change into for recess and lunchtime play please. This term s fundraising and chapel offerings are going to the ALWS Walk My Way appeal in aid of refugees and the Starlight Foundation in aid of children with cancer. Mrs A will be completing the Walk My Way 26km Women s Pioneer Trail on July 4 th. Every $26 raised will send a refugee child to school, so please give what you can to our chapel offerings until the end of term. We thank you for working in partnership with us. Anna Kotzikas Student Wellbeing Coordinator On behalf of the SRC

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