Dear Parents,
Last night I read an article entitled Virtual Friendship. The article written by John Muether compared friendships in our virtual world to the traditionally defined face to face friendships we grew up with. Here are some excerpts and some of my thoughts for parents and students to ponder on the topics of friendship.
I recognize as a school leader that friendship is the number one factor to a student’s success in high school. If a student is or feels isolated, lonely, or troubled over friendship issues, good luck getting much out of him / her academically. Flipping that around, if a student has great school friends who know him/ her, friends who encourage, listen and laugh with you, school is a great place to be.
So where does Facebook fit in? Does your child Facebook? Does he have 8 friends or 800 friends? How much time does she spend on Facebook? Have you accepted Facebook as the new reality for friendship, or does the whole social network site annoy you?
I have a facebook page and I spend all my time confirming friends. Occasionally when I do read posts, it disturbs me to see adults making comments on the quality of their morning coffee, or the fact that they cannot seem to get their kids out of bed. Does Facebook focus on exhibitionism? As Mueller puts it, “ Your colonoscopy this morning is really not my business.”
Does Facebook lack genuine attempts at friendship? Parents, consider that hundreds of Facebook friends in your child’s life might just create a false illusion of friendship.
As Maggie Johnson says, “ Facebook friends do not increase the number of folk to whom one is prepared to donate a kidney.” Does Facebook enhance your child’s social life or is it your child’s social life?
I would encourage you to talk about friendship with your teen, when they are ready to talk. Try to define together what a quality friendship these days might look like. Consider that classic hymn title, “ What a friend we have in Jesus”. Could it be that a friend who is willing to make sacrifices for you, for no personal gain, a friend who forgives you for ignoring him, a friend who loves like a brother might be more deserving of our time than the time we spend updating our profile, our status and our photo albums on Facebook?
Mr. Dykstra
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The Road of Life
At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge,
keeping track of the things I did wrong,
So as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when
I die.
He was out there sort of like a president,
I recognized his picture when I saw it,
but really did not know Him.
But later on
when I met Christ,
it seemed as if life were rather like a bike ride,
but it was a tandem bike,
and I noticed that Christ
was in the back helping me pedal.
I don’t know just when it was
that He suggested we change places,
but life has not been the same ever since.
When I had control,
I knew the way.
it was rather boring,
but predictable….
It was the shortest distance between two points.
But when he took the lead,
He knew delightful long cuts,
up mountains
and through rocky places
at breakneck speeds,
it was all I could do to hang on!
even though it looked like madness,
He said, “Pedal!”
I worried and was anxious
and asked,
“Where are you taking me?”
He laughed and didn’t answer,
and I started to learn to trust.
I forgot my boring life
and entered into the adventure.
And when I’d say, “I’m scared, “ He’d lean back and touch my hand.
He took me to people with gifts that I needed,
gifts of healing
acceptance
and joy.
They gave me gifts to take on my journey,
my Lord’s and mine.
And we were off again,
He said, “ Give the gifts away;
they are extra baggage, too much weight.”
so I did,
to the people we met,
and I found that in giving, I received,
and still our burden was light.
I did not trust Him,
at first,
in control of my life.
I’d thought he would wreck it;
but he knows bike secrets,
knows how to make it bend to
take sharp corners,
knows how to jump to clear high rocks
knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.
And I am learning to shut up
and pedal
in the strangest places,
and I am beginning to enjoy the view
and the cool breeze on my face
with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.
And when I’m sure I can’t just do anymore,
He just smiles and says,“Pedal.”
-Author Unknown
Dear Parents,
I hope you read the poem above. I found it this weekend. From the home to the school, I sure hope we are encouraging our students, our kids to pedal with Christ as our companion.
Mr. Dykstra
At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge,
keeping track of the things I did wrong,
So as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when
I die.
He was out there sort of like a president,
I recognized his picture when I saw it,
but really did not know Him.
But later on
when I met Christ,
it seemed as if life were rather like a bike ride,
but it was a tandem bike,
and I noticed that Christ
was in the back helping me pedal.
I don’t know just when it was
that He suggested we change places,
but life has not been the same ever since.
When I had control,
I knew the way.
it was rather boring,
but predictable….
It was the shortest distance between two points.
But when he took the lead,
He knew delightful long cuts,
up mountains
and through rocky places
at breakneck speeds,
it was all I could do to hang on!
even though it looked like madness,
He said, “Pedal!”
I worried and was anxious
and asked,
“Where are you taking me?”
He laughed and didn’t answer,
and I started to learn to trust.
I forgot my boring life
and entered into the adventure.
And when I’d say, “I’m scared, “ He’d lean back and touch my hand.
He took me to people with gifts that I needed,
gifts of healing
acceptance
and joy.
They gave me gifts to take on my journey,
my Lord’s and mine.
And we were off again,
He said, “ Give the gifts away;
they are extra baggage, too much weight.”
so I did,
to the people we met,
and I found that in giving, I received,
and still our burden was light.
I did not trust Him,
at first,
in control of my life.
I’d thought he would wreck it;
but he knows bike secrets,
knows how to make it bend to
take sharp corners,
knows how to jump to clear high rocks
knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.
And I am learning to shut up
and pedal
in the strangest places,
and I am beginning to enjoy the view
and the cool breeze on my face
with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.
And when I’m sure I can’t just do anymore,
He just smiles and says,“Pedal.”
-Author Unknown
Dear Parents,
I hope you read the poem above. I found it this weekend. From the home to the school, I sure hope we are encouraging our students, our kids to pedal with Christ as our companion.
Mr. Dykstra
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