It is Advent and our hearts are longing…

•longing for peace in places of strife and hurt, 
•longing for restoration of brokenness in relationships, of brokenness in spirit, 
•longing for of healing in a world full of pain, sickness, destruction, 
•longing for everything to be made new again. 

Our HOPE as we wait in expectation is found in God's promise to come and live with us. 

Waiting
Recently I was reminded how much of my life I spend waiting. Waiting for…
• for the light to turn green
• in line to pay for my groceries
• on hold when I call the doctor's office
• for my prescription to be filled
• for our kids to get in the van
Waiting. Waiting can be hard, but it can also be exciting to wait for a special event or person to arrive. I often hear from my students about how many days until an upcoming birthday. Now I am starting to hear about their anticipation for Christmas. Only 23 more sleeps!
In grade 2, we learned this fall about how difficult it was for God's people as they waited hundreds of years for the promised Messiah. Many prophets had foretold that the Christ child was coming and would bring about wonderful events. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
We are now entering the season of Advent, another time of waiting. We are also waiting for the "advent" or coming of the Christ child. As much as I generally do not like waiting, I love this time of year. For the next few weeks I will intentionally quiet my heart in the midst of the Christmas chaos to anticipate the birth of my Lord and Saviour. With my family and students, we will remember how God's people waited eagerly for the Messiah to come. We will prepare our hearts for Christ to come again. We will thank God for a Saviour who saves us from our sins. Praise God for Christmas!
May you also enjoy this season of waiting.
Mrs. T. Bulthuis

Thank you to all those who came out to help support our school through the book fair last week! A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Vance and Mrs. Ignagni, who helped supervise the fair during classroom visits. Because of your support we have earned $129 from Usborne, $120 from Christian Supplier, and $283 from Scholastic which will be used to purchase books for our library. Congratulations goes to Chiwun from Grade 8 who won our draw for some free books!

This week Wednesday and Thursday, we will experience community as parents and teachers meet to support and discuss students' progress in learning. A time of sharing, of encouraging one another in the God-given privilege of nurturing the children with whom we have been blessed. A time to enjoy together this task, to strategize about 'next steps', of how to best support the children through the next term. Students are also welcome to come and join the conversation - which makes sense since it's all about them! Together it is a time to celebrate the successes and discuss the challenges of the first term, along with goal-setting and planning for the coming term.
Please pray that God will bless this time - a special time for our Woodstock Christian School community.
B. Huinink-Buiter

In Canada, November 11 is Remembrance Day and November 17-24 is Restorative Justice Week. Each is set in an effort to remind people there has to be a different way--a different way to work out differences, a different way to repair harm. As I paid for the peace lily I selected at the nursery today and carried it out to the car, it dawned on me how privileged we are as educators to be nurturing relational communities in schools. Spilled blood and repairing serious harm are realities, but if we can learn to dialogue and honour each other as valued, worthy human beings, perhaps in the future we can be celebrating peace more than we will need to remember death and brokenness. "The wolf and the lamb will feed together… They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord." (Isaiah 65) 

 (by Dr. D. Vaandering, RJ Dialogue, November 2013)

Goods, Services, and Talents. Otherwise known as the GST Auction. It was a very successful event that was held this past Friday. Many people worked countless hours to organize, set up, and promote the GST Auction. There were over 250 silent auction items and over 75 live auction items. Businesses and many individuals donated a variety of goods, services, and talents. Thank you to each class that donated great items for their special basket. Many school supporters came out to enjoy some good fellowship, bidding competitions and delicious snacks. There was excitement in the air as everyone helped support WCS. We are thankful to God for the fundraising and are so pleased that $50,000 was raised. What a blessing!
Mrs. J. Hickey

 

WCS was fortunate to have a "fill in" Principal for a couple hours last week. Mrs. Huinink-Buiter had to go to LDCSS for Grade 8 day with some of our students. 
Since our Grade 1 students were dressed as "Community Helpers", we had a "sub" on hand. 
Mr. V did a great job answering questions and running the school.  At one point he did need 2 body guards to help him out though.
He was happy to head back to his classroom after sharing a hot chocolate with Mrs. HB and discussing the details of the day!

"Be still and know that I am God". Psalm 46:11

 

It is Remembrance Day, 2013- a time to be still… ponder the broken world we live in…mourn the death and devastation that war brings. Let's pray that God will use us to be his voice, hands and feet to bring peace and healing to His world.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.

With God as our father, brothers all are we.

Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.

With every step I take let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment and live each moment

With peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Mrs. Bernice Huinink-Buiter

Grade 8 students were blessed to have the opportunity to work as 'earth-keepers' on Friday Nov 8th. Students worked with staff from the City of Woodstock and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority to plant 100 shrubs. Shrubs were native species and will provide the understory, as well as erosion and flood control, for the reforested areas in west Woodstock that were severely damaged by the emerald ash borer.

Wacky Hair Day today!

**Trial**Fog Day Blog Post: this is where you will find details of a fog or snow day at WCS when the weather dictates that we cancel buses and/or cancel school for the day. We will also post on Facebook and a voice mail message will be placed on the WCS phone 519-539-1492