12/15/2021 Principal's Note

By -
When I was much younger, a good family friend of ours named Jim told my older sister and me a spooky story on the way home from an evening church service. He told us about the "fog people." A summary of the story is that on foggy nights, some sort of otherworldly being waited under bridges to stop hapless motorists and take them away. Our route, of course, had several such bridges along it, and that night happened to look quite similar to our weather today. When the car ahead of us slammed on its brakes while crossing one of those bridges for seemingly no reason, my sister and I just about lost our minds. We were terrified!

Weather like today reminds me of how we go through life. Even as Christians, the path forward always seems pretty foggy. We stumble about in our careers and our relationships. Many times, we look around ourselves and think, "Where am I, and how did I get here?" It can be downright scary!

Did you know the book of Job uses the word "darkness" 33 times? If you know anything about Job's life, it makes total sense. He had a lot of terrible things happen to him for seemingly no reason; I'm sure he felt like he was stumbling around in a dense fog. In the midst of all that, however, you find this: "I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me" (Job 19:25-27, NIV 2011)! Despite not being able to see his hand in front of his face for all the trials and tribulations he was facing, Job saw his Savior. That same Savior says to us, in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (NIV 2011). 

When you feel lost in the fog of this sinful world, don't try to find your way on your own; that's how people end up lost. Instead, look for the light of your Savior Jesus in his Word. Follow him, and he will lead you home.

Blessings to you all this week, and Merry Christmas!

In Christ,

Principal Bill Fuerstenau