Finishing the Race
The Book of James tells us that we “do not know what tomorrow will bring,” and then asks the penetrating question, “What is your life?” followed by the humbling reminder, “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (4:14).
The context of these words, of course, is a warning against boastful presumption while planning for the future. We must humble ourselves under the good hand of our Sovereign God and trust Him with our tomorrows.
However, the Scriptures also exhort us to plan ahead and be prepared for our tomorrows. In Proverbs 16:3, we read, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” So, while it would be foolish to be presumptuous about the future, it would be foolish in other ways to ignore the needs of the future and not plan wisely.
As you think about the future of your family, what lies ahead? The ancients used the Latin phrase tempus fugit – “time flies” – to describe that all-too-human feeling of the fleeting nature of our days. “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12). We must prepare well for the days ahead so that we fulfill our duty under the Triune God to faithfully bring up our children in the paideia of the Lord.
And that is something that is truly beautiful about classical Christian education: there is a designed culmination point at the apex of the Trivium, at the farthest point of preparation, when children are cultivated and nourished and shaped for launch into the world. My prayer is that your children will reach that point as graduates of Providence Classical Christian School and experience the blessings of finishing their K-12 race with the equipping and maturing that only a classical Christian education can provide.
We are at that exciting point in the year when our six most senior students are just about to finish their race at Providence and begin the race of adulthood. I am thrilled for these students and their families. These seniors are finishing the right way, with gratitude and diligence.
I thought I would give you a picture of what the home stretch looks like for our seniors. It is a time filled with good, challenging, and adventurous things.
Senior Thesis Presentation and Defense: All year long, as a part of their senior Rhetoric course, the seniors have researched a chosen topic and developed a lengthy essay in support of their argument. Then they present their paper and defend if before a panel. These thesis presentations begin this week (see below for more info) and continue through mid-May. This capstone project develops the seniors’ ability to reason, research, write, speak, and persuade, all in service to a Christian worldview. The Providence family is invited to Senior Thesis Presentation and Defense, and you are certainly encouraged to come be a part of this formative experience.
Senior Day: On Wednesday, May 17, we will celebrate our seniors. You are invited to the Senior Day Assembly at 10:00 a.m., when, with the seniors’ families and the whole Providence family, faculty members will deliver solemn charges to the seniors, we will celebrate their lives with slideshows, and we’ll have fun together making much of our seniors. This is a day to honor our soon-to-be graduates as they enter the final days of their time at Providence.
Commencement: The Providence Graduation Ceremony is set for Thursday, May 25, at 7:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church, with a reception for everyone afterward in FBC’s Fellowship Hall hosted by the senior families. Our graduation speaker is Dr. Brian Williams, Dean of Templeton Honors College at Eastern University and leader in the worldwide classical Christian education movement. What a day of celebration awaits us!
Grand Tour: Every other year our juniors and seniors leave our shores for an adventure in learning overseas. This year’s Grand Tour is a 13-day trip to Greece, where students, parents, and faculty sponsors will follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and also visit some of the most important sites in Western history. A couple of days after graduation, we leave on a jet airplane for a classical Christian adventure in Greece. What a way to experience in person what the students have studied for years before!
We are thankful and excited for you, Jackson, Bella, Holden, Harrison, Evelyn, and Aliyah!
And I’m already looking forward to finishing the race with future classes of Providence seniors in the years to come. Let’s plan for your Providence students to finish this race! “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Prov 19:21).