C.H.I. reading
An Open Letter to the MVCJH Class of 2001
Ted Ehrheart
How often have you asked yourselves: Why do we have to go to school? What’s the big deal? What am I going to do now? Do I really have to study for Mr. E’s Lab Exam? These questions, whose importance you may not fully understand today, have drastically molded your lives and your futures. It has nothing to do with knowing “What order of mammals does the armadillo belong” or “Describe the digestive system of the frog.” What it does have to do with is learning how to deal with adversity and complications. When life gets hard…. And believe me, it will get hard, don’t you give up! Don’t give in to temptation, to peer pressure.
I test you guys almost daily on CHI… but these are simple tests… you guys always turn in the dollar bill I leave on the floor and you never look at the exam key that I leave on the table. But there will come a time when your character will be tested. It’s at that time we’ll see exactly what you’ve learned in my class.
Several of you don’t want to leave Junior High… You have “8th Grade Priority”, you’re the leaders of the school, it’s easy here… no new surprises… but your time here is now over. You have to take that step away from the security of a school many of you have attended for years and take that next step in life… several of you are going to Christian schools, some are going to public school for the first time. It will be difficult at times but it is at this time that your discipleship as Christians will be tested. You have a new ministry now. You will be able to stand up for Christ and make impressions upon a whole new group of people… teach them … show them.
Sure, this path won’t be the easiest to follow, but I feel confident that you’ll navigate through the complications and tribulations. Don’t let your integrity be dictated by someone else, it is the one thing that you can completely call your own. Keep Christ centered in your life and this task will be easier.
Parents and teachers try to assist their children and students with advice on life and its lessons. This advice is often met with block walls of defiance. But it is still offered so you won’t have to make the same mistakes that we have made, so that your life will be easier and better because of it. People much wiser than I have helped me to realize these several things.
I have learned that:
Terrible things will happen but you can overcome any tragedy through strength in Christ.
I am a work in progress, and that there will always be a gap between who I am and the person Christ wants me to be.
It’s easier to talk about integrity than to live it—and that true character is my willingness to do the right thing even when it costs more than I want to spend.
I judge myself by my best intentions but others judge me by my worst acts.
When we fight fire with fire, all we get are the ashes of our own integrity.
It can take years to build up trust and only seconds to destroy it.
Kind words really matter and that thoughtless comments and badly timed criticisms can cause serious hurt.
And lastly…
The people you care about most are always taken from you too soon.
No love, no friendship, no person can cross the path of your destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. People come in and out of our lives, leaving us changed in some way, shape or form. I know how you all have changed mine and I pray that I have changed yours in some positive way.