Greetings from Mr. McCray

Dear Living Rock Community,

Happy New Year!  This is the time of the year when people will generally make resolutions.  Some of the most common resolutions include: to save more money, devote more time to physical exercise, to lose weight, or to eat healthier.  
 

Research conducted by Strava, an American internet service that tracks physical exercise, studied millions of user-logged activities and concluded whether it's a small, easily achievable goal or a huge, life-changing goal, people tend to fail at the same rate. Approximately 80 percent of people who make New Year's resolutions have dropped them by the second week of February. Many don't even make it that long. According to Strava, most people are likely to give up on their New Year's Resolution as early as the 19th of January. Strava refers to this day as "Quitter's Day.”

So should we just give up? No, because there is a place for change in our lives.  However, I’m not so sure New Years’ resolutions are the best way to accomplish this.  A better approach could be to examine our walk and commitment to the Lord.  Lamentations 3:40 says, “Let us test and examine our ways, let us turn back to the Lord.”  

Is it really possible to change and to be a “new you” this year?  The answer is yes people can change.  Remember our Lord is the expert in turning “broken pieces into masterpieces.”  Let us recall the story of Peter and how he miserably failed His Lord when he fled with the other disciples from the Garden of Gethsemane.  Later, he publicly denied that he even knew Jesus.  Peter must have doubted if he had been capable of being Jesus’ disciple when he was unfaithful to Jesus in His most crucial hour.  

In John 21:15, after His wondrous resurrection, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?”  Peter responded with “Yes Lord.”  Immediately, Jesus reaffirms His love for Peter.  Jesus didn’t need a resolution or recommitment or more resolve to obey God better this year.  Jesus asks for your love.  If you truly love Him, your service for Him in the new year will be of the quality He desires. Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him!  He doesn’t humiliate us, He does not criticize us, He doesn’t ask us to make a resolution to try harder.  No, He takes us aside, like Peter, and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.  

The staff at Living Rock Academy is committed to teaching your children from a biblical perspective which requires us to test and examine our ways spiritually and to turn back to Lord.  We take our failures and learn from them knowing we serve a God who can turn our setbacks into opportunities.  But most importantly, LRA will be a place of love that reaffirms love just as Jesus has shown us and commands us to do so.  

This month Living Rock Academy will hold two winter open houses.  On Wednesday, January 18th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  and then again on Thursday evening January 19th  from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  These are events where you can take a tour and meet our teachers.  It’s a way for the public to come and see the great things we are doing at LRA.  An opportunity for us to actively demonstrate our Christ-like love for others.  If you  know of a family who is considering a school change, please let them know about these wonderful occasions.    

As we move into the second semester, we will also administer our second round of MAP tests for our students.  These will be conducted during the first full week of January and will give us a good understanding of the academic progress of our students since August.  

I hope 2023 will be a wonderful year for you and your family.  Please know that  LRA will continue to be a school that has an open door, an open heart, and an open Bible to all who enter our school.  Have a fantastic 2023 and welcome back!

In Christ,

Steven McCray
Head of School