Sunday, January 24, 2010

A Little Time Spent on my Soap Box

We had a very moving service at church this morning. Bro Jason spoke of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem. He told of how we have to put our faith in God and he will be our strength to help us along. Nehemiah felt very strongly about seeing his home town torn down and burned. He felt he needed to do something to help preserve the place where his fathers were buried. Ever since leaving church this morning I have felt that I like Nehemiah am having a hard time hearing of the heartache in my home community. I may not live there now, but my heart will always be there.
I know that there are very few people that I will reach via my blog, but I feel like I must say something. Some of you may have no clue as to what I am talking about. This past week the Prentiss Co School board voted to close Jumpertown High School next year and make it K-8, then it will move to K-6 the next year. I know that to some that sounds like it is not such a big deal. In the future, I may be able to say that as well, but only time will tell. However, right now, that is not how I feel. A community as small as Jumpertown is built around it's school. It is the heartbeat of the community.
My heart aches for teachers concerned about if they will have a job next year. It hurts even more for the students that will be leaving the only school they have ever known to attend an inter-county rival school. I do not think it would be as hard to swallow if I could understand why it is happening. Why is just Jumpertown being targeted in this?
However, after today, I feel like I have to let it go and quit asking why. I have to know that God's plan will be exposed. I know that I am not personally affected by this since I do not have children in the school system. I do however have lots of family and friends that are. It hurts me to see a community in such pain. My prayer request is that God will wrap his arms around Jumpertown and that Jumpertown with his help will move forward to bigger and better things.

2 comments:

Jeri Anne said...

Awww . . . that's really unfortunate. Studies have shown that smaller, close-knit community schools have so many benefits -- more one-on-one attention, greater opportunity to be on sports and academic teams, and greater community pride and attention toward the school. I understand your pain, but I'm sure the school board thinks saving a couple of pennies is more important.

Leslie Franklin said...

Marcie,
Jason showed me your blog. I've enjoyed looking at all the pictures. So cute! I love blogs!
Leslie