A message from The Blue Mountain Seventh Day Adventist Academy, TildenTownship, PA, Principal Dave Morgan:
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| Two Butterflies At Lake George, NY |
Part I
I was
walking out to the ball fields one night this week during rec. It was my
turn to take supervision so as I left the “fishbowl” and headed outside
the south wing, my eyes were drawn to the two
large butterfly bushes at the end. I smile as I walked by because
there, enjoying the nectar of the plants flowers were a multitude of
butterflies.
Now, you are probably wondering if I am truly that
simple minded, but before you come to that conclusion, let me share why
I was drawn to this simple display of nature. Through my lifetime, I
have often searched for examples of God’s leading in my life. For me, I
most often find his answer to my musings in His “second book”, nature.
Whether in the coniferous forests of the Rockies, the lush green hills
of the Appalachians, kayaking on a still lake, or walking by butterfly
bushes on a school campus, I have found God’s voice speaking to me.
On this particular day I began to think of the butterflies on that bush
and how much their journey is like that of our students. Every
butterfly starts their life as an egg. That’s exactly how it starts for
our students as well. In fact, one of our favorite times at BMA is
during graduation weekend when parents send in baby photos of their
precious bundles of joy. We love to laugh as we try to guess which
senior is on the screen. This part of childhood is certainly a special
one indeed!
Parents of children not yet at BMA, may I offer you
the importance of taking the time to cherish these years. May you
understand that this is only one stage in the development of your child,
and to not take proper care of those special years is to live with
regret. I’ll close out part I of this thought by sharing a personal
reflection on this first stage. You can watch the video: http://vimeo.com/35812840 at or read the story at: http://wp.me/s11eWi-cherish.
In order for our children to successfully move through the stages of
growth, to someday fly like the butterfly, they need love, care, and
attention of you. May they find that love, care, and attention from you,
as you cherish this special time.
Message from the principal Part II:
This stage quickly gives
way to the second stage, that of caterpillar. We often see the
caterpillars munching on leaves, inching from leaf to leaf, then, one
day, they disappear. The caterpillar stage is
one in which our students are growing and maturing mentally,
physically, socially, and spiritually. Many parents make the mistake
during these years of not sending their child to a Seventh-day Adventist
school because they think that these formative years of their child’s
education are not risky ones. My experience suggests otherwise.
There is a creeping compromise that begins to invade the life of a child
as they are exposed to worldly values and conduct. It may not be
evident in 1st and 2nd grade, but by 3rd and 4th it becomes increasingly
obvious that a change is occurring. Parents are usually oblivious to
the changes because the changes are most often incremental. The old
adage “by beholding we become changed” is a true one.
When I
was the principal of a Jr. Academy, parents often brought their 7th or
8th grader to us hoping we could reverse some of the behaviors and
attitudes that had finally become obvious to them. Sadly, their desire
to wait had now made the task of introducing these students to the love
of God difficult because they (the students) had been introduced to a
desire for the trappings of the world.
It is so important
during this “caterpillar” stage of your child’s life that they be given
the proper foundation that will one day give them the ability to soar as
God originally intended. May you as a parent never say, “I wish I had…”
You can read more at http://wp.me/p11eWi-h
Part III
The third phase a butterfly
goes through is the pupae stage. All wrapped up, hidden from the world, a
transformation is occurring. This, in my mind, is the time in a
student’s life that they walk the halls of Blue Mountain Academy. This
is the time they have to stand on their own two feet for the first time.
The journey of self-discovery has begun.
It’s interesting
as you watch the students at BMA. Some have begun to figure life out,
but others are unsure, insecure, questioning their value. All have some
insecurities and at times struggle with how to find balance in their
lives. For some, the biggest challenge is how to make good decisions.
This is such an important process for our young people to go through,
this searching. Sometimes we must, as hard as it is, stand back and let
the struggle unfold. This may sound cold and harsh to those of you that
rush in to pick up your child as soon as they struggle, but as a parent
that has had two children traverse this stage of life, I assure you it
is crucial to their growth as a young person. Let me share an
illustration that better makes my point.
A man happened to come
across a butterfly as it was going through the pupa stage. Bright
green, and so delicate, the pupa caught his attention. Fascinated he
clipped the branch of the bush off that the little chrysalis was hanging
from. He carefully suspended it over the mouth of a jar and throughout
the day would take time out to see if there had been any progress. In
the blink of an eye, while his back was turned, a change occurred.
The once bright green pupa had become translucent, and right before his
eyes, the butterfly began to struggle in an effort to break free. For
two long weeks the butterfly had been held captive, transforming from a
creepy crawling leaf eating monster, to an elegant and fluttering symbol
of transformation. All that remained was to break out and be the
inspiration that his creator had created him to be.
The man
felt bad for the butterfly as it struggled to break out and finally he
could watch no longer. Quickly he found a small pair of scissors and
with one careful snip he cut the sheath away from the butterfly. The
butterfly had been set free, but something was wrong. The butterfly
tried to flap its wings, but as mangled as they were, they could provide
no lift. Sadly, the man slowly realized his mistake. You see, the
creator knew what he was doing when he set this process of
transformation in place for the butterfly; the struggle to get out of
the sheath, when unimpeded, forces fluids from the torso into the wings,
causing them to stiffen and thus, allowing the butterfly to take off
and soar.
This is the same for our students at Blue Mountain
Academy. Believe it or not, we want our kids to make mistakes. We want
to be there to guide them in the right way to approach life, to be
thinkers rather than mere reflectors of other people’s thoughts. Yes,
life at Blue Mountain Academy is a process. Sometimes difficult,
sometimes challenging, but in the end, extremely rewarding!
“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday,
ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around
life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for
you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted
to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead,
fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out.
Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of
immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed
maturity in you.” Romans 12:2 The Message
I did not "like" and to which I replied:
