The Freeze, The Roof, The Lesson
“Boys, pray that the fruit doesn’t freeze tonight. I’m counting on the money from the fruit to put the roof on the school.”
My father shared this prayer request over dinner one night. A hard freeze was in the forecast. We had a small 9-acre grove surrounding our house on Lake Miriam Drive in the early sixties. The grove was not very profitable. Income from the sale of the crop mostly paid for upkeep and taxes. But Dad was counting on the money from the sale of the oranges that year to cover the cost of the roof on the six classrooms and cafeteria under construction at the new location for LCS on Forest Park Street. It’s tough to have school without a roof so we prayed hard!
In God’s kindness, the fruit made it and LCS had a roof. I went to class under that roof for 8th and 9th grade and on to high school elsewhere as LCS only provided K-9th grade at the time.
A heritage of sacrifice
There are many, many stories of God’s faithfulness to LCS. I grew up hearing stories of board members taking out second mortgages on their homes to be sure the school could pay the teachers. Other parents and supporters donated the proceeds from property they sold to provide for facilities to provide Christian schooling for more children. Donated services over the years range from free welding, electrical repairs, bulldozer and site work, building shelving and cabinets for classrooms, and countless other investments of “sweat equity” were poured into LCS. So many have sacrificed to provide the campus and programs that we all have come to expect as “normal” for LCS.
The beneficiaries of sacrifice
I was reminded of our history recently when I read, “We all enjoy the shade of trees we did not plant!”
The principle is clear. We all benefit from the work and sacrifice of others who have gone before us. We celebrate those heroes in our past who have fought in wars to defend our freedom, worked for racial equity and civil rights for all Americans, pioneered advances in science and medicine that have improved our way of life, and those who have stood strong for the authority of the scriptures and the biblical Truth of the gospel over the centuries in the face of great cultural pressures.
Our opportunity
We are approaching the next step in campus expansion for LCS. We are looking forward to the construction of a new high school building soon. We all enjoy the campus that has been provided for us through the sacrificial giving of those that have come before us.
Now is our time. We have the opportunity to “plant the trees” that will provide the “shade” for student generations to come. We stand on the shoulders of many who have invested in LCS in the past.
It’s our turn now.
