I was sitting in a workshop at the 2001 Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) Early Education Directors conference in Colorado Springs minding my own business. The title of the workshop was Constructing Appropriate Early Education Curriculum and was given by Dr. Milt Uecker. All of a sudden, I started to sense God’s presence. I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Pay attention. I have something I want to say to you.” I knew God was talking to me. I listened to everything Dr. Uecker had to say. I even ordered the tape. In a nutshell, the Holy Spirit was saying, “Honor the children.”

After that workshop, I went to another workshop called ACSI Preschool Accreditation: The Inside Scoop. Again, the Holy Spirit began to talk to me. I sensed God was saying, “Be in search of excellence for the children.” I listened to Leanne Leak and D’Arcy Maher from ACSI talk about how the ACSI accreditation was comparable to NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), but it had an additional Christian component. I took all the information they gave us on accreditation, and I returned home. As I examined the information in my office, I had so many thoughts. How can we afford this? This is a ton of work! How will I sell the rest of the staff on this? I thought of every excuse not to pursue it. The Lord, however, would not leave me alone. I knew God wanted me to do this.

I have to be honest and tell you as we jumped into accreditation, there were times I felt incredibly overwhelmed and intimidated. However, I always felt the Holy Spirit tell me, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” The Lord would again remind me it was about the children and what was best for them. Then the Lord did an amazing, affirming thing. The more we worked at making our program excellent, the more children He brought to us. Finally we had a waiting list in every classroom. Then He brought wonderful teachers. I had so many people wanting to work I was able to pick the cream of the crop.

Looking back, I have to give God all the glory. God used ACSI to help us examine ourselves from a Christian perspective and make the necessary improvements to honor the children. As I walk around the building and see how far we have come, I sense God is smiling down on us. Matthew 18:10 says, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” That tells me we have angels in our building in more ways than one.

A few months ago I went to a meeting at one of our schools. The school had announced to its families that it would be closing. As it is for most of us, the concerns were financial and staffing. The monthly utilities and maintenance costs were more than the school’s income could cover, and the church’s budget was being affected. The director was exhausted and unfulfilled. She was working outside of her gifts, trying to support, encourage, train, and nurture a staff--instilling a heart for sharing Christ and His love for the children and families.

The response of the parents prompted the administration to call a meeting of the church and school boards with the parents and staff. The financial situation was explained.

I don’t think any of the leadership expected what happened in that meeting. The parents as a whole expressed their love for the school and the anguish they felt at having to even think of moving their children. They praised the church, the staff, and the programs, affirming its value to the community.

Moms and dads throughout the audience offered professional services in the way of budgeting, financial advice, fundraising, grant writing, administrative help, etc. Public school teachers off for the summer offered volunteer help by substituting, developing curriculum and programs, providing classroom support, and performing maintenance. Committees were formed, spaghetti dinners were planned, and additional meetings were set to further discuss how to save the school.

It was hard to keep up with all that was taking place in that room. The passion was great and their mission clear. I went to the meeting to pray and offer support. I left much wiser, vowing never to underestimate one of our most powerful and valuable resources--our parents.