Issue 7, 2021

Dear College families,

I was reminded the other day that being a mum or parenting in general is a marathon. What prompted this thought was the simple realisation that the College Mother’s Day event is such a vastly different experience for me than it was even 3 or 4 years ago. Gone are the days where my children were dependent on me to order them a special breakfast at the College Mother’s Day celebration or where they excitedly invited me to wander through their classrooms so they could proudly show me their bookwork.

Naturally, Mother’s Day activities have changed as my children have got older, as have their needs and the nature of our conversations. What hasn't changed though, is their need for me and my concern for them. Parenting is this privilege that is entrusted to us well beyond the 18 pre-adult years. Parenting will concern us and occupy us for many years to come. My mum still faithfully prays for me, calls me, visits me and tells me what I should be doing differently to look after myself. And although I am a mother myself, I still need her listening ear, wisdom and encouragement in my life.

To all of our College mums, dads and carers, I want to provide encouragement for those moments when you feel exhausted by the marathon or overwhelmed by the needs of your children. Whether you’re instructing a toddler for the 100th time not to touch the power point or grappling with teenage angst, remember that you too have a Father who is concerned with your personal needs. Often, and especially in those difficult parenting moments, we don't see ourselves as children but in our eternal Father's eyes, that is exactly what we are. And I take great comfort from knowing that whilst my love for our children is not perfect, God's love for me is perfect and therefore, His love for my children is perfect. In fact, there is nothing that can stop His love for us.

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Happy Mother's Day!

Felicity Marlow
Principal

I have a friend who often begins in conversation with the question “What made you smile today?” It is a simple but profound question and one that I appreciate. Taking the time to really think about the answer and discuss why, always feels like a worthwhile activity that leaves me with a healthy perspective.

With the stresses of the busy lives we lead, it can be easy to focus solely on the problems and the things that haven’t gone as we would like. In focusing on the problems, we can forget or overlook some of the positive experiences that occur on a daily basis. Looking for opportunities to savour the moment and create positive emotions is important for our wellbeing but more importantly, we follow the commands God gives us in his Word. There are many Bible verses regarding thankfulness and gratitude and some of my favourites come from Psalms and Thessalonians.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A 2005 study^ showed that people who used specific exercises to focus on the good things in their lives experienced increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms. The exercises involved follow the daily practice of writing down three things that went well during the day as well as an explanation of why. The three positive experiences can be small things (watching a beautiful sunrise) or big events (achieving a long term goal). The exercises work best when done on a daily basis and while it may be difficult at first, the process gets easier with practice. A possible application of this process is to record the daily gratitude lists in a journal and use it as the basis of prayer. Or perhaps families could individually complete this task and then discuss during the evening meal or before going to bed. If you find yourself or your children focusing on negative feelings, try this activity to establish an ongoing thankfulness for the blessings God has given.

When Christ rules in our lives, thankfulness overflows. Even in the saddest of times, we can praise God for his love, his rule over all creation and his promise to never let us go.

Daryl Hinton
Head of Secondary Years

^Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive Psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410.

Our body is a complex creation that has a unique way of responding to danger in order to keep us safe from any perceived threats. When your ever-vigilant sympathetic nervous system is stimulated the fight, flight or freeze response is activated, which pours the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline into your body.

The antidote to this stress hormone is a chill out hormone called acetylcholine which the vagus nerve controls. The vagus nerve is the largest cranial nerve of the human body and is a part of the parasympathetic nervous system. It is responsible for the rest-and-digest process. Scientists are only now learning about its influence on the human body.

The vagus nerve:

Cools down inflammatory responses in the body
Helps strengthen our memory
Controls our heart rate
Releases the ‘chill out’ hormone
Is responsible for the ‘gut feeling’
Can make you faint, and it can be stimulated

A simple breathing technique that allows the vagus nerve to release the chill out hormone is to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. The important part of this exercise is that the breath out must be twice as long as the breath in. As part of my role as counsellor I teach students a simple technique of imagining a freshly baked cookie that students have on their hand. They lift the cookie to their nose and breath in to count to four. Then they are asked to cool the cookie by blowing on it through their mouth with lips rounded to the count of eight or as long as breath will go. When they blow onto their hand they can feel when the breath out has been completely exhausted.

The vagus nerve ‘wanders’ from the brainstem to the organs of the body to calm them down. The sympathetic nerves from the spine travel to organs to produce stress-activity for times of emergency of heightened activity. Stimulating the vagus nerve shuts off the inflammatory activity within the cells of the organs. This helps with immune system activity and the overall function of the body. Calming activity will stimulate the vagus nerve to provide this healthful effect.

Dr Stephen Porge’s Polyvagal Theory shows how the sympathetic nervous system causes life threat or danger reactions and the parasympathetic nervous system can be calmed to provide feelings of safety.

Catherine Redwood
Counsellor

In Primary this year, we are exploring each book in the Old Testament in ‘God’s Unfolding Plan’. Over this term, we’ll be exploring how the Israelites had to trust God as they wandered through the desert, their entering into the land God had promised them and their life in the land as they tried to follow God despite the influences of the people around them. Each week we’ll be discovering how this part of the Bible points us towards Jesus and impacts our lives today. In Chapel time, we have been using a video to summarise where we’ve been so far, acting out the passages together and then followed by a song that reflects on the truths of the Old Testament.

Discipling Primary Students: If you would like to be a part of discipling your child through the Old Testament, there are some fantastic video resources you could watch together (such as the ‘God’s Story’ series by Crossroad Kids Club here or the ‘Faithful Hall of Fame’ by Saddleback Kids here). Reading ‘The Gospel Story Bible’ and the ‘Jesus Storybook Bible’ together are very helpful Bibles for Primary age students to discover God’s plan to rescue through Jesus throughout the entire Bible. Discipling Secondary Students: The Gospel of Mark is the shortest biography of Jesus’ life and so is a punchy, short read to explore together with your child. You could begin with the Bible Project introduction to Mark which gives you an overview through videos, alongside an introduction to the key milestones and themes of the Book. Following that, there are some great reading plans such as this one by Berea that you can read through the Gospel of Mark in 30 days with a short passage and some discussion prompts.

In Secondary, we are exploring the book of Mark in our ‘Unfiltered’ series. This will allow students to gain their own, unfiltered view of Jesus so they can decide for themselves whether he is a liar, lunatic or Lord. This term, we are exploring Mark 4-8 as we see how Jesus’ message is received differently by different people, he is powerful, he is a prophet, he cares about our heart and he is the Christ who must die to save others. As we explore these topics, we will be mixing between visiting speakers and bible studies with their mentors, so students have a chance to discover the Bible for themselves.

Discipling Secondary Students: The Gospel of Mark is the shortest biography of Jesus’ life and so is a punchy, short read to explore together with your child. You could begin with the Bible Project introduction to Mark which gives you an overview through videos, alongside an introduction to the key milestones and themes of the Book. Following that, there are some great reading plans such as this one by Berea that you can read through the Gospel of Mark in 30 days with a short passage and some discussion prompts.