"Whatever you do - whether you eat or drink or not - do it all to the glory of God!" 1 Corinthians 10:31
Last Wednesday, we started to receive "Severe Weather Warnings" around 3:00 p.m. As the clock approached 3:15 p.m., the sky began to blacken as the wind gusts also began to intensify. At 3:20 p.m., as the first sounds of rain began to ricochet off the new roof, I made an "All School" announcement requesting all teachers and students to quickly pack up their belongings, in hopes that we could rapidly dismiss to beat the approaching monsoon.
Unfortunately, as the bell rang and the doors opened, we were greeted by an intense roll of thunder, and instantly, I knew we were facing a challenging situation.
Honestly, I think we broke a record for our quickest dismissal procedure in St. Matthew history, as kids ran to cars and teachers immediately took children without rides into our building for safety.
The inclement weather caused many road delays, and as a result, we had an unusually large group of students waiting for rides. As cars pulled up to the blue awning, teachers would call out whom each car belonged to, and a few of us would take turns running kids out to the waiting vehicle. As a black car pulled up through the pouring rain, one teacher yelled it was a little Kindergarten boy’s car. It was my turn to dodge the pouring rain, so I announced, “Let’s go Jude!” to which he responded, “You want me to go in this car?” I heard his question but in the intensity of the situation I really didn’t think it through and responded, “Yep, let’s go!” and off we ran.
I opened the car door and Jude jumped in and started to buckle into the awaiting car seat. Imagine our shock and surprise when the kind Mrs. Argy turned around and said, “Sorry buddy, this isn’t your car!”
All of a sudden, Jude’s question “You want me to go into this car?” made much more sense, but after thinking about it later, what I found even more endearing was Jude’s trust and loyalty in his principal, despite her poor vision!
Next week, we are going to see another endearing story of trust and loyalty between Marty the Zebra, Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, and Melvin the hypochondriac Giraffe as St. Matthew Lutheran School proudly presents “Madagascar Jr.”
After months of rehearsing, it's time to "Move It, Move It" and join the cast on this exciting journey as we learn how four pampered friends from the New York Central Park Zoo find themselves shipwrecked on the exotic island of Madagascar.
During your travels, please plan to stop by the "Crack-a-lackin Cafe" to enjoy tasty delicacies such as Alex the Lion cupcakes, Penguin cookies, Gloria's cake pops, Melvin's bent neck pretzels, Marty's special "Crack-a-lackin" popcorn, and various other treats.
In addition, we will sell "King Julian's Golden Treasure Bars"! Each night, 20 pieces of various forms of treasure will be hidden inside the chocolate bar wrappers, so come and see if you can locate an exciting prize... including a pool party for your class at Mrs. Palka's house!
To add to the excitement, our substitute Art teacher, Mrs. Jackie Strain, will display masterpieces created by each student. Furthermore, our spring Book Fair will open both Friday and Saturday evenings!
So... it's time to get "Crack-a-lackin" and buy your tickets now! Tomorrow, Friday April 26th, is the last day for presale tickets, but remaining tickets will be available in the school office throughout the week and at the door on May 3 and 4.
We hope to see you there, and as they say in the show, "It doesn't matter where you go, but it's more important who you go with"... unless Mrs. Palka puts you in the wrong car!
In Jesus' Love,
Mrs. Palka