Blissful Simplicity

In general conference, one of my favorite talks had to do with living a simple life. They say to live within your means. The first presidency has said that buying a large house or nice car is "misusing resources."

Situation: Using school money at the end of the year because "if you don't use it, it's gone." At PG Jr. High, they said they were able to buy a bunch of cameras for that reason. Yes, it helps the students learn photography. Great. What is the purpose of all this knowledge? What is the purpose of any kind of intelligence?

The glory of God is intelligence. We are supposed to seek knowledge for the purpose of glorifying God. How can we incorporate this stuff into the things we are teaching our students without crossing the church/state line or whatever you want to call it?

-Service projects (locally or globally--it could be fun to work with another school in a different country to accomplish a common goal.)
-Presents for mother's/father's day or the holidays.
-A "green" contest to see who can create the greenest power source.
-Anything to expand their vision for the future!

I'm out of ideas. It's late. But wouldn't it be cool if we had a broader vision for our students? What difference would it make if we came to a new school with the vision that our students are going to create a better future? Would the students believe more in themselves? Could we get them to catch the vision? Would they care enough to make a difference? I think they would. I really think they would.