New School, New Tribe, New Adventure

The air was absolutely electric this morning as the carpool circle filled up and kids came streaming out of minivans and toward the house, stopping to have their photos taken by some older Griffins. I could feel their both their excitement and their uncertainty, especially these sweet 7-10 year olds who have spent most of their learning days at home in the comfort of their families. Some were a bit nervous, some reserved, some confident, some wiggly and overflowing with energy, needing to know the boundaries. We had a wonderful and productive first morning together, including an impromptu Socratic discussion on whether jumping off the loft ladder should be allowed, if so from what height, and what kind of beanbag would be suitable as a landing pad. 

Good times. 

After lunch, we used rubber bands to talk about how we're all being stretched in different ways this year. Some of us find math easy; others feel stretched. Some find working with others and being around people all day easy; others feel stretched. The stretching can be uncomfortable, and we 

don't want to stretch to the snapping point, but we need to stretch to grow! I think it's safe to say that every single person in this schoolhouse is experiencing different kinds of stretching today. We are growing! (And unlike rubber bands, our capacities never return to quite their original size.)

We also read 1 Samuel chapter 3 together and talked about God's calling of each of them in His own timing, and how that relates to being on a hero's journey. 

This is the story I shared with them during our first Elementary School launch. It's long, but I thought you might enjoy reading what they heard. See if you can figure out which part of the story really drew out the crazy cheering! :-)

"Welcome to the very first ever Acton Imprimis Elementary School class! You all are a very special group of pioneers, because you and your parents have said YES to a big adventure when none of us knows exactly what it’s supposed to look like! This is a year when you will take chances, get messy, make plenty of mistakes, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and try again, learn to set and achieve goals, and give each other plenty of encouragement along the way. We hope you’ll also discover more of who God made you to be and how you fit into His plan for His kingdom on this earth.

When Jesus was on this earth 2000 years ago, He taught a lot through stories. And here at Acton Imprimis, we learn a lot through stories -- by hearing them, telling them, reading them, thinking about them, and discussing them. So I thought I’d start us off with a story. (And if you get wiggly, please know that you will rarely hear the sound of my voice as much as you will right now!)

Imagine that it is the year 2035. You are all twenty years older. How old will you be? What do you think you’ll look like, sound like, and be like? Will you feel the same and think the same way? Imagine that you’ve all come back together, right here in this room, for a reunion. Here’s one version of what you might discover.

In the year 2035, Abigail and Aliya are running their own successful veterinary practice, “All About Animals with Abigail and Aliya,” where they specialize in domestic animals like horses, cows, goats, sheep, and dogs (especially golden retrievers and Cavalier King Charles spaniels). Their skills have come in handy when they visit a different Third World country every year to provide free veterinary care to struggling farmers and share the gospel with them. They also get frequent calls from Camryn, who is running her own thriving farm in the Texas Hill Country, taking fresh produce to the weekly Lakeline Mall Farmer’s Market and keeping prizewinning pygmy goats, along with more traditional farm animals. She supplies all the vegetables to the popular Austin restaurant where Cyrus has worked his way up from server to manager to chef/owner. He has a secret breakfast menu there that’s only available to his family and his fellow AI graduates.

Josiah stops in to visit his twin sister whenever his travel schedule allows for any free time. He’s on the road for weeks out of every year, competing as a professional skateboarder, and winning a gold medal at last year’s X Games. Winning medals is not as important to him, though, as his visits to inner city skateboarding parks and camps, where he demonstrates his mad skills for kids and then shares with them about Jesus. Last year he started his very own sports camp for underprivileged kids with Zach, who went to college on a soccer scholarship and now plays professionally for the LA Galaxy.

Caroline and Genevieve are providing the refreshments for this party, having flown in from Paris, where they opened their own little bakery in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school as pastry chefs. Caroline specializes in macarons and cupcakes, while Genevieve excels in artistic birthday cakes. They have come up with an innovative program for feeding Paris’ homeless population with the daily leftovers from the city’s bakeries and cafés. Their shop was designed by Milam, an architect whose work also includes homes for poor families in Southeast Asia using inexpensive and highly renewable bamboo.

Gage is entertaining the crowd at this party with his dazzling collection of magic tricks. Even though everyone knows these are really illusions, Gage has refined his skills so much that he’s fooling everyone! Miles, meanwhile, produces a trick that seems just as magical to his former classmates. He has invented an amazing machine that turns Brussels Sprouts into bacon! He’s already made his first million dollars, as the machine is selling like hotcakes, but he chooses to live simply so that he can support five missionaries with his earnings. He’s also building a Christian orphanage in Haiti (designed by Milam!) and Gage plans to visit frequently to entertain the children there with his magic tricks. He knows that sometimes when life is sad or difficult, kids can really use a laugh!

Ben, Hope, and Meg have all started their own Acton Imprimis schools, putting to work all the many hours of experience they gained watching their parents and working alongside them in 2015. Ben’s is right outside of Paris, and he often sends his students to apprentice with Caroline and Genevieve. Hope’s is in Bora Bora, where marine biology and sandcastle building are Core Skills and the Griffins snorkel for recess. Meg’s is in the mountains of North Carolina. She makes sure every Griffin acquires knife handling skills in the first two weeks of school and spends plenty of time camping, hiking, and learning to survive outdoors. They all hope to cultivate humble, brave and godly heroes who live boldly for God’s kingdom on this earth, just as they and their classmates from the very first Acton Imprimis have done.

So, what do you think? Is it possible that this scenario may happen? Is it probable? Maybe, maybe not. Whether this represents your future, or whether God has something else in store for you, we believe that the choices you make today, this week, this year, can help determine the way you end up going, even many years from now. You will have to make decisions. Some of them will be tough. You will encounter obstacles and be tempted to give up or take the easy way out. You will need to decide whose definition of success you listen to: the world’s or God’s.

And that is why we are all here together: to support each other in our challenges, to help each other learn to set and reach goals, and to remind each other of whose voice, whose applause, really counts. Who gave us our gifts and abilities? Whose glory and honor do we seek? What kind of people should we then be? We’re here to take that journey and tackle those questions together."

And we're off!

                                                                                                                          ~Hannah