Guest Blog - A Community of Grace by Emily Watkins

If you frequent this blog, you are accustomed to hearing from Bob Collins. I appreciate the opportunity to be a guest blogger. I am Emily Watkins, the Early Childhood Administrator at Shannon Forest Christian School.

I have the privilege of taking graduate classes. The class I am currently taking concerns the development of school and community relations. One thing that has been brought to mind, as I study for this class, is that Shannon Forest should be, and hopefully is, known as a community of grace. My hope is that school employees and families see evidence, and that visitors see evidence, of God at work by the way our relationships are conducted at Shannon Forest.

So often in today’s culture God’s grace is overlooked. How can we overlook something so overwhelming? If not for God’s grace none of us would be here, and now we have the privilege of sharing that grace with others on a daily basis!

How do we foster a community of grace at Shannon Forest? We have opportunities every day…now more than ever.  The goal is to create a school in which all involved are like-minded in mission, invitation, acceptance, and love. Isn’t this how Christ calls us to live?

The mission of Shannon Forest Christian School is to provide quality education from an evangelical, Biblical perspective in order to equip and challenge students to influence culture and society for Jesus Christ. I feel that we all agree with the mission of the school.

But what does it mean to be like-minded in invitation? A community of grace should be inviting. Christian theology is inviting by nature. As Christians, we believe that everyone is created in the image of God and has intrinsic worth. For this reason, our school should be committed to being a community of grace and make a constant effort to be inviting to all. A deliberate, inviting community can have a significant impact on the behaviors of its members, adults and children.  After all, why do we have our children enrolled in a Christian school?  I imagine it concerns the impact of the behaviors of those surrounding our children.

Lewis Smedes, a renowned Christian author, says that grace is seeing others with “magic eyes – eyes that see past the surface behavior into a person’s heart to see the soul that God is calling.” A community of grace is patient and persistent with its members. Think of the story of the master who forgave the servant’s large debt, only to have the servant throw one of his customers into jail over a much smaller debt. Members of a community of grace remember how much we need to be forgiven and are willing to offer forgiveness to others.

Finally, our school operates in love, not human love, but agape love. Agape love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as being patient and kind, not jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Agape love only comes from Christ so it does not demand its own way, it is not irritable, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Agape love rejoices when the truth wins. It never gives up, never loses faith, and is always hopeful in every circumstance. Imagine a community of people operating in this fashion!

It is a privilege to be an employee at Shannon Forest Christian School and a blessing to have my children in school here. As I read the description of a community of grace, I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I realize that we all are a part of a community of grace!

Emily Watkins is the Early Childhood Administrator at Shannon Forest Christian School.  She has served the parents and students of SFCS since 2009.  Emily's two daughters, Riley (5th grade) and Reagan (1st grade), also attend Shannon.