Greetings, Patriot Families,
On October 3rd, 1863, in the midst of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln saw fit to give the Thanksgiving proclamation. It is very brief, and well worth reading in its entirety. Despite the immense violence and chaos that were abounding at that time, Lincoln recognized God’s sovereign leading of our nation, and he implored our citizens to give thanks to the Lord for the many blessings and unmerited favor we received. Lincoln concluded his installation of the Thanksgiving holiday with these words:
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are
at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of
November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in
the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him
for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national
perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably
engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the
nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full
enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union.
One would be hard pressed to find a more fitting description of our current culture than “the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged.” Yet, in the midst of the strife, there are so many things for which we ought to give thanks, it is hard to know where to start.
For instance, our Feast Day event this year was a sterling example of the quality of education and character that is being cultivated in our students. Those at the event witnessed the culmination of many hours of student planning, organizing, re-planning, delegation, encouragement, and last-minute adjustments. As noted at the event, we hold Feast Day each year because it is a powerful way to recognize the fact that we are made in the very image of God. As an eternal trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God in three persons: in other words, a community. Having all of our students organized into houses to practice community in this type of event reminds us that we, too, are made for community. Similarly, God’s first external work was to create. Since we are made in His image, we are made to create. Feast Day is an exceptional testimony to the creative nature of our students. I am very thankful to have witnessed an incredible rehearsal of the image of God in our students.
As I think about things like Feast Day, I realize that I am perhaps most thankful for the very fact that God created a place like The Habersham School, where the mission of restoring His image in our students through education really is the primary concern, not a platitude we put on our website. Read through the Patriot Post on any given week, and you will find abundant evidence of that fact. Ask our students to tell you about the kinds of things they are studying in class, or ask them about the types of conversations they have with their coaches about the value of athletics, or ask them about the way that our production of The Sound of Music is equal parts musical theatre and discipleship. In all of these things, you will find clear evidence of what makes The Habersham School so distinctive and so refreshing in a broken and hurting world.
Finally, I am thankful that God has given this school that He created the facilities that we have. Gould Cottage and Habersham Hall are unique locations to house our school, and despite some leaky pipes and roofs along the way, they continue to serve us well. To that end, I am happy to say that the leaders of SCAD believe in the mission of our school, and they continue to faithfully partner with us in allowing us to use Habersham Hall to house our high school. In light of that, we plan to remain in our current facilities during the next school year. This will allow us to continue to take advantage of being in mid-town at Gould Cottage, and downtown at Habersham Hall, so that we can persist in being a light and blessing in those communities.
Thank you for allowing us the privilege of working with your kids, and for all of your incredible support for our school. If you haven’t yet done so, please take a moment to invest in our school by giving to The Habersham Fund. The Lord uses your investment to enable our student activities like Feast Day, and the many other opportunities that our students have to reflect His image well. I hope that all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday, that you will heed the call of both Honest Abe and Psalm 107:1: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever”!
Soli Deo Gloria,
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