From the desk of Rod Fletcher, Headmaster:

Thanksgiving.  Celebrating the Harvest.  Reaping that which has been sown.

The concept of sowing and reaping is one that Heather and I have discussed often with our children.   We have mainly done this with a focus on the front end, the “sowing” aspect, as a motivation for our boys to do the right thing.  And this is the main purpose of education – sowing into our students as well as teaching them how to sow wisely – in order to reap the benefits later.  But lately I have been challenged to look at the other side, the “reaping” aspect of the harvest.  As I am daily working hard planting seeds, I also must stop to enjoy the harvest, and more importantly, stop to give thanks to the Lord of the harvest.  I must encourage my children and the community of Brook Hill to do the same.

As the season of Thanksgiving is upon us, I am struck with blessing of a holiday in our nation’s calendar, and an entire week at The Brook Hill School, for us to rest from our normal activities and enjoy the harvest and thank the Lord for that harvest.

As I pause and reflect upon The Brook Hill School I see a beautiful harvest.  The verse, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good…” is repeated throughout the Psalms, and I can’t help but join in repeating that phrase as I see His goodness all over our campus.  God has been so good and gracious to The Brook Hill School.  From that first vision of His plan for this school that He gave to our founder, Steve Dement to the families, faculty and funds that have developed the mission in the pursuit of excellence in every area.  The benefits of that pursuit are obvious as they show up daily on our campus, are written about on our blogs, are posted on Facebook and social media, and are discussed in classrooms and the community.  When this occurs, we are joining with David in Psalm 9:1 saying, “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”  We are giving thanks to Him and telling of His wonderful deeds when we share pictures and stories of what the lower school students are learning in science lab and the great books they are reading.  We do it when we tell about the amazing upper school Dinner Theater performances, athletic achievements, and college acceptances.  The Brook Hill community is giving thanks to the Lord for the harvest we are reaping at our school, declaring God’s goodness and His faithfulness to us.  Join with me in pausing, reflecting, and celebrating with a grateful heart and then telling it to others.