Life in the Middle

Dear Middle School Parents & Students,

As the Spiritual Life Coordinator at ICS, I get the privilege of working on a lot of the amazing programs we get to run as a school.  I get to go to all of the chapels, coordinate the many camps and retreats, support Community Worship Night and organize our Roots discipleship program for grades 7-12.  There are many different principles that influence how I approach my job, but two important ones are; 1. Discipleship isn’t an event, and 2. God shows up when we create time and space for Him.  These principles can stand in opposition to one another, but looking at Jesus’ life reveals how He was able to fulfill both of them and points us towards ways that we can too.

My calendar of events is so full, it’s easy to fall into the belief that God needs these scheduled and carefully planned events to reach into the hearts of our students. And indeed, God has revealed Himself to our students in incredible ways at some of these events!  But Jesus clearly demonstrated through His life that discipleship doesn’t require an event planner.  He was never inviting people to an event, but into a relationship.  No matter who He encountered, Jesus took every opportunity to point people to His Heavenly Father.  

But Jesus also frequently stepped away from the crowds.  Jesus was intentional about creating time and space to pray, meditate, fast and simply spend time with His Father.  These times were in the wilderness, the desert, the garden, the peace of morning, places where the busyness of life and ministry could be set aside to connect with the very source of Life.  Jesus’ rhythm of engaging in spiritual disciplines before and after engaging in ministry provides a model that we are trying to follow and teach at ICS.