I’m sitting in the airport in Frankfurt waiting for the last flight of my journey. It never ceases to amaze me that a mere six plus hours can transport me from rural Lancaster Pennsylvania in the US to metropolitan Europe. To be honest, I had a hard time leaving this time, as I had the amazing privilege of spending several days with my two-year-old granddaughter, Naomi. Naomi is a bright, lively little girl who looks a little like me and a little like her mother. I can especially see myself when she scrunches up her nose and has an impish grin on her face. At least, that’s what the photos in my mother’s photo albums show that I looked like when I look when I was her age. I think my son and his wife are going to have their hands full for quite a while.
When my three children were little, people used to tell me to enjoy the time because it would go by so quickly. With three little ones under the age of five, I must admit that I didn’t find that the days went by very quickly. I spent several of those years in a constant state of fatigue. And yet, when I think back over the times that we had as a young family, I remember them with great joy. If you come to my office, you’ll see that the pictures that I have on my desk are of my three grown children when they were really young. I guess I will always remember them that way. And, yes, the time did go by quickly.
With the holiday season right around the corner, I want to remind you to cherish the special times and the traditions that you share with your children. Children are a gift from God. He has given you the wonderful privilege of pouring into their lives and watching them grow and mature. At ICSV, we acknowledge that you have chosen to share this responsibility with us as we partner with you to develop in your children the skills and attitudes that they will need to be successful throughout their lives. Please pray for the faculty and staff that we would be consistent role models of Christian character that your children can emulate. Because of the value that we place on your children as image-bearers of the Almighty God, we can strive to be no less.
Because of His Faithfulness,
Sharon Brobst, Ed.D.
Director