Grace Abounds

The celebration of Easter Sunday is over, but the celebration of Easter is NEVER over for Christians! God sent His only Son, Jesus - the greatest Gift ever given, to die a horrible death on the cross taking ALL of our sins upon Himself so that we may spend eternity with Him in heaven. Why? Why would God sacrifice His own Son for us, miserable sinners? There is only one answer: LOVE! "For God so loved the world...He gave His only Son." John 3:16. Did we deserve this sacrifice? Heavens NO! We are sinful and unclean but God loved us so much He provides us with HIS grace -- the grace to be saved through the death of one perfect final offering, Jesus Christ - atonement!

One of the most well-known contemporary Christian authors, Max Lucado, puts it this way: Grace is God's best idea. Rather than tell us to change, He creates the change. Do we clean up so He can accept us? No, He accepts us and begins cleaning us up. Grace is God as heart surgeon, cracking open your chest, removing your heart - poisoned as it is with pride and pain - and replacing it with His own. His dream isn't just to get you into heaven but to get heaven into you. What a difference this makes! Can't forgive your enemy? Can't face tomorrow? Can't forgive your past? Christ can, and He is on the move, aggressively nudging you from graceless to grace-shaped living. The gift-given giving gifts. Forgiven people forgiving people. Deep sighs of relief. Stumbles aplenty, but despair seldom. Grace is everything to Jesus. Grace lives because He does, works because He works, and matters because He matters. He placed a term limit on sin and danced a victory jig in a graveyard. To be saved by grace is to be saved by HIM - not by an idea, doctrine, creed or church membership, but by Jesus Himself.

Please join us in praying and thanking God for the following schools this week:

Emmaus Lutheran School and Preschool, Alhambra, CA

Redeemer by the Sea Lutheran Preschool, Carlsbad, CA

Good Shepherd Lutheran Preschool, Tehachapi, CA 

Below are photos from Emmaus Lutheran School and Preschool,

Alhambra, CA:

Preschoolers wearing their community helpers hats.

Preschoolers ready to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Preschoolers excited for their Easter Egg Hunt!

3rd Graders working on their human body project.

5th Graders having fun with the parachute on Field Day.

K-8 teachers enjoying lunch together after a scavenger hunt in Alhambra. 

Embark on a journey of professional and spiritual growth with our Lutheran professional development opportunities for early childhood staff. Whether you're a teacher, administrator, or aspiring leader, there's a program suited to your needs. Join us in enriching the lives of young learners while deepening your commitment to Lutheran education. 

See our flyer link for more information on each pathway, including descriptions, costs, and links to additional details.

We are so thankful to the 16 schools who have contributed so far to this year’s Hearts for Jesus unified mission project, LCC Comfort Dog Ministry! To date we have collected $9,181.85 which will support just over 30 teams of comfort dogs and handlers to “Be There” in times of emergency and crisis! To God be the glory! There is still plenty of time for your school to contribute to this worthwhile project! If you haven’t yet taken the time to find out more about Lutheran Church Charities Comfort Dog Ministry, please visit our Hearts for Jesus page on the School Ministries website. LCC has created a great page of classroom resources and videos to help engage and inspire your students, early childhood through high school, to be compassionate and empathetic individuals! You can also request a virtual comfort dog visit! Thank you for sharing about this worthwhile project and for instructing and modeling giving hearts to your students!

The China Experience | School Innovation (October 4-14, 2024) equips educational leaders to drive innovation in their communities and on their campuses through visits to international, public, and lab schools, discussions with leaders and policymakers, and intercultural interactions with Chinese teachers and students. It is an immersive and transformational experience where participants are introduced to new places, cultures, and ideas. The heart of the curriculum is lived through experience in the journey of 10,000 steps from schools to palaces, from gardens to skyscrapers, and from the boardroom to the circus. Participants will have the rare opportunity to travel with and be mentored by intercultural and innovation expert, Dr. Eugene P. Kim.  

The cost of the trip is estimated at $4,800 for double occupancy. The non-refundable deposit of $500 is due on May 1, 2024, paid to Pacific Southwest District. The remaining trip fees (approximately $4,300) are due on June 1, 2024.  

If you are interested in applying for a spot on this amazing life-changing experience, please complete The China Experience | School Innovation Google Form by April 15, 2024. Please direct your questions to eunchu.kim@psd-lcms.org.

The Pacific Southwest District is excited to launch the Foundations of Lutheran Teaching (FLT) program in the Fall of 2024. Foundations of Lutheran Teaching seeks to support and equip school professionals for ministry in Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) schools. The FLT program offers five asynchronous online courses, each spanning eight weeks. These courses are designed for working school professionals to accommodate their busy schedules. A virtual information session will be held next Tuesday, April 9, at 3:30 p.m.

Scan the QR code above to sign up.

$400 per course - Scholarships available

Online Class:

• What Lutherans Believe and Why
• Jesus Through the Bible
• Teaching the Faith
• Spiritual Development of Students
• Spiritual Self-Care

Save the Date for the Administrators Leadership Conference - July 17-19, 2024, at the newly renovated Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, CA! Registration will open soon. Stay tuned for more details!

St. Paul's Lutheran Church & School in Orange, CA, is hosting a Parent Education Night on Thursday, April 18, at 7:00 p.m. on the church campus. The guest speaker will be Dr. Kara Powell, Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute and author of the "Sticky Faith" book series. Learn more about Dr. Powell.

This is open to the community! Prior to the event, you are invited to a taco dinner from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Child care will be available in the church nursery and youth MODJ.

To RSVP, pre-order meals, and request child care, please register by April 15. Questions? Please contact Jackson Thiesfeldt.

Here is an interesting read focused on self-care: https://www.edutopia.org/article/trauma-informed-care-teachers

A good teacher smiles while she’s teaching. She smiles because she is comfortable not only with her subject matter, but also with her classroom and her students. She smiles because children respond quicker to encouragement rather than disparagement. And she smiles because at the end of a very long day, with papers to grade, and forms to fill out, and meetings to attend, a child may peek his head in the door and say, “We gonna write poems like that again tomorrow? That was fun!” That is when I smile. -Ohio’s Sharon M. Draper, National Teacher of the Year

TEC21 Season 16 cohorts are now being finalized. Register today!

Now past the soft close date of March 31 for Season 16 Workshop Program registration, TEC21 is beginning to finalize cohorts, plan for staffing and assign workshop dates.

TEC21 Founder Brent Dieckhoff tells us TEC21 will continue to accept registrations throughout the late spring months and summer provided cohorts have room. “We want to impact as many Lutheran school teachers as we can and understand how difficult it is for our busy principals to pause to make their decisions.”

TEC21 has seen an uptick this year in principals registering Lutheran school teachers who have participated in the past. “We’ve fielded many questions in the past few months from principals asking if they can send their teachers back through our program,” Brent says, adding that he believes this is due to the constant changes occurring in technological innovation and the desire Lutheran school teachers have to learn alongside peers who share their Biblical mindset.

Choose from EC-12 virtual and in-person cohorts, including a music virtual cohort, EC-8 educator virtual cohort, and four virtual, non-geographic, high school cohorts for English, science, theology and social studies. Register today! 

Reach out to Brent Dieckhoff here to schedule a Calendly call to learn more or read more here.

Click here to read the most recent CAPSO (California Association of Private School Organizations) Midweek E-Mailer.

• Prayers from Emmaus Lutheran School and Preschool, Alhambra, CA: For church and school growth and hearts of students and families opened to knowing Jesus.
• Join us in praying for congregations, high schools, elementary schools, and early childhood centers searching for administrators, directors, teachers, and staff for the 2024-25 school year.

Schools we are praying for the week of April 7:

Prince of Peace Lutheran School and Preschool, Anaheim, CA

Hilltop Christian Preschool, Cottonwood, AZ

Promise Christian School and Preschool, Murrieta, CA 

Each week, prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for teachers, administrators, support staff, pastors, students, and families of the Lutheran schools, early childhood centers, and churches of the Pacific Southwest District are listed. To include names on the list, please send information to anna.preus@psd-lcms.org by noon on Tuesdays.