Discern What is Best

Thank you, Greenhouse Builders, for participating in the mission of Greenhouse through prayer.

During the month of June, we invite you to pray over the admissions process, which requires discernment on the part of many. Please pray for the families who will be offered enrollment as they discern whether to proceed. Pray for our registrar (Jacqui Michel) as she manages the details of admissions for 60+ families. Pray for our principal (Mary Kiel), lead teachers (Lynne Cowell, Jan Geiger, Kari Ziman) and Head of Co-School (Tom Spacek) as they make decisions about student placement. Ultimately, please pray that every class and cohort will be configured for optimal growth for the students, academically, socially, and spiritually.

Consider what the apostle Paul says about the source of discernment.

Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Ponder whether your prayers align with Paul’s in this passage. Are you praying for love to increasingly abound? For love to be rooted in knowledge and deep insight? That based on this rooted, abounding love you will be able discern what is best while you are being purified and filled with Christ-like fruit? That all of this will circle back to the praise of God? As we learn to pray in these ways, we invite the Spirit of God’s transforming work into our lives and our world. May it be so.

Walk in the Light

Those who regularly pray, give or advocate on our behalf we call “Greenhouse Builders.” We deeply appreciate your participation in the mission.

During the month of May, we invite you to pray for the seniors. Several still have their capstone thesis presentations to make. Pray that each will experience healthy closure with their classmates, teachers, and younger buddies as they finish the school year. Pray that they will grow in faith and courage as they anticipate their next season of life. Pray that they will humbly embody servant leadership wherever God leads them, becoming leaders who see and serve.

As we pray let’s consider the words of the apostle John:

1 John 1:5-7 (NRSVCE)

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

All of us encounter darkness in ourselves and in the world around us. We cannot fully comprehend the holiness of God in whom there is no darkness at all. Light has multiple functions in our daily life. Light exposes and illuminates things. It brings warmth. It sanitizes. Light conveys energy and information.

Ask the Lord to bring to light anything that needs to be exposed or confessed. Pray that He will warm what has grown cold, and display in brilliant color the life to which He calls us in Christ. Please pray that the students, families, and teachers connected with Greenhouse will humbly walk in His light throughout the final weeks of the school year.

A Time for Everything

Builders, we appreciate your help in building Greenhouse through your prayers, gifts, and advocacy.

During the month of April, we invite you to pray for the art classes at Greenhouse as well as the art show coming up in May. Pray that students will grasp some of the beauty and creativity of the Lord through their art classes and projects. Pray that they will grow in their ability to observe and see, as well as in their artistic skillfulness. Pray for art teachers David LaPlaca (core) and Hal Metzger (electives) as they seek to encourage each student in creating their artwork.

Consider these words from Ecclesiastes 3.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (NIV)

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Prayerfully ponder how you would characterize this period of your life. Is it a time of building, a time of weeping, a time of searching? If you see nothing beautiful in the midst of this season of life, ask the Lord to help you perceive the beauty that is there. Thank Him for His faithfulness, and trust that everything in His providence has its appointed season.

Not to us, Lord

Thank you, Builders, for your active participation in the ministry of Greenhouse through praying, giving, and promoting.

During the month of March, we invite you to pray about Flourish ‘25 our new spring fundraiser on April 28. Please pray that many who are not familiar with Greenhouse will accept invitations to attend. Please pray that our keynote speaker Dr. Michael Lindsay (President of Taylor University) and other presenters will encourage and inspire people, and cause them to consider supporting Greenhouse financially and in prayer. Pray that all the preparations will lead to an evening that truly celebrates the work of God.

Let us echo the prayer of the psalmist.

Psalm 115:1, 14-15 (NIV)

Not to us, Lord, not to us

but to your name be the glory,

because of your love and faithfulness.

May the Lord cause you to flourish,

both you and your children.

May you be blessed by the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

Are there ways in which you subtly or blatantly seek to appropriate God’s glory for yourself? In contrast, ponder how God has demonstrated His love and faithfulness…throughout the Scriptures, in history, and within your lifetime. Consider how your own attempts to flourish compare with the flourishing which the Lord causes. Invite the blessing of the One who made heaven and earth to cause you, and your family, as well as Greenhouse, to truly flourish at this time.

Not to Be Served, But to Serve

We are thankful for the support of each Greenhouse Builder. We appreciate your giving and praying, as well as your promoting Greenhouse among those you know.

During the month of February, we invite you to pray especially for our former students and alumni, many of whom are now young adults. Please pray that they will follow the Lord and trust Him wherever He leads. Pray that they will lead by humbly serving those around them. Please also pray for the Lord’s shepherd-like care of those who have wandered, those who have been wounded, and those who struggle to hear His voice.

Especially if you know former students by name, we invite you to fashion your prayer for them, and your own household, along the line of Jesus’ teaching in Mark 10.

Mark 10:43-45 (NIV)

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

How have you been served by the Son of Man (Jesus)? Contemplate what He has given you. Worship Him. Then prayerfully consider times when you are tempted to “lord it over others.” What does it mean to become a servant at those moments? Pray for the Lord to strengthen you to serve those He’s placed in your life. Pray that everyone connected with Greenhouse may grow in servant leadership, rooted in Jesus Christ.

I Will Be Your God

Thank you for being a Greenhouse Builder. Thank you for giving, praying and promoting. We cherish your partnership in the ministry of Greenhouse.

This month we invite you to pray for the elective program. Several courses will start in January. Please pray that teachers will build strong rapport with their students, and that students will get acclimated to their new classes. Starting in January: Crickets (beginner violin), Developmental Psychology, Drawing, Improv, Orchestra, Painting, and Rock Climbing. In addition, please uphold ongoing classes in Latin, Lit Circles, Spanish, Technical Arts, and Writers Workshop. Pray as we discern what new classes to offer next school year.

As we change calendars, many of us consider our hopes and plans for the new year. The biblical realities of redemption and regeneration, confession and repentance encourage our hearts as we look at our past and envision our future. Consider God’s words in Ezekiel 36.

Ezekiel 36:25-28 (NIV)

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.”

Who is the one who acts in these verses? Who promises to cleanse, renew, and restore? Who will place His Spirit within His wayward people? The sovereign Lord Himself whose great name is holy (vs. 23). We cannot cleanse ourselves, resuscitate ourselves, or renew ourselves. That is God’s work, and by His work His character and glory are revealed to us, and in us. As we begin a new year, and think about fresh starts and commitments, let us quickly recognize that ultimately we invite the work of the Lord God, more so than our meager efforts.

God With Us

Thank you for being a Greenhouse Builder. Your gifts to, prayers for, and promotion of Greenhouse are vital to our mission.

This month we invite you pray for the Logic-level program for students in grades 5-8. Please pray for the new students who will join Greenhouse in January. Pray that our students will not fall prey to undue self-centeredness or cliquishness in their middle school years. Pray that they will serve as encouraging big buddies to their younger buddies. Pray for skillfulness and discerning hearts for their teachers: David LaPlaca (Art), Heidi Appleton & Stacie Johnson (History/Lit), Ellie Tate & Robin Wiper (Performing Arts), and Jan Geiger & Laura Johnston (Science).

Familiarity with the Christmas story occasionally blinds us to the extraordinary wonder of what our God has done. Consider the following passage, spoken by an angel, and later referencing a prophecy made hundreds of years earlier. Allow yourself to be amazed.

Matthew 1:20-23 (NKJV)

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

One can scarcely take it in. Not aloof or distant, our God is with us; in Christ He lived among us. It is He who saves us from our sins. We are told His Spirit indwells us even now. In fact, Jesus assures His followers that He will never leave or forsake us. In what area of your life do you need to be reminded that God is with you? In holy confidence, resting in Christ, claim the reality of Immanuel. Pray that God’s close presence will comfort, encourage and embolden all of His people connected with Greenhouse this season.

Let Us Rejoice

Every time you have prayed or given, every time you have mentioned Greenhouse to another person is a gift to us. Thank you for being a Greenhouse Builder.

One of the areas we continue to grow is in building healthy community. In a broad Christian fellowship like Greenhouse, we hope that the manifest love we show one another will cause people to take note that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Key in this process is a volunteer team of community care coordinators (CCC’s) who help new families get acclimated and connected, provide opportunities for fellowship, and support families facing difficulties. Please pray for our CCC’s this month. Pray that the community at Greenhouse consistently reflects the love of Christ.

The way God builds His kingdom, and cultivates a community can be surprising. Consider this Messianic reference in Psalm 118.

Psalm 118: 22-24 (ESV)

The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The rejected stone, later revealed to be Jesus Christ, becomes the cornerstone of the whole building. Notice that “the day that the Lord has made” in which we are to rejoice is the day that the rejected stone is exalted. Through His sacrifice and resurrection, Jesus Christ becomes the cornerstone, against which the very gates of hell cannot prevail. Therefore, take heart. In whatever circumstances you face right now, may the reality of Christ as the cornerstone be marvelous in your eyes and cause you to be glad and rejoice once more.

His Strength in our Weakness

Thank you, Builders, for every time you have prayed, given, or promoted on behalf of Greenhouse.

During October and early November, most Greenhouse families will be involved with our annual Serve-a-Thon. Pray as each team selects a service project. Pray as they seek fundraising partners; pray for wisdom in knowing who to approach and favorable responses. Pray as team members serve side-by-side and build community. Pray that the beneficiaries at the various service sites will be blessed by the work done on their behalf.

During the Serve-a-Thon, many of us realize afresh that we prefer helping to being helped. The vulnerability of neediness is discomforting if we are accustomed to thinking of ourselves as strong. In 2 Corinthians, Paul recounts how that he pleaded three times for the Lord to remove a “thorn in his flesh.” Let’s prayerfully consider his words.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)

But [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In what areas of your life are you aware that you are weak or powerless? Pray that the power of the Christ will rest upon you at those points of weakness. Can you say, as Paul does, that you are content with hardships, calamities, insults, persecutions and the like? Ask the Spirit of the Lord to show you how to hold them with contentment “for Christ’s sake.” Pray that in your weakness you will experience His strength this month, and find that His grace is indeed sufficient.

Live in His Light

Builders, we appreciate your praying for, providing for, and promoting Greenhouse as we start the 2024-25 school year.

Please be praying especially for our new faculty and staff. Pray that they will get acclimated quickly and begin building good rapport both with colleagues and the students and families they serve. This fall we welcome five new teachers*: Heidi Appleton (Logic Hist/Lit), Jeff Boriss (Technical Arts), Ashley Condra (Freshman Lit), Laura Johnston (Grammar & Logic Science) and Ellie Tate (Grammar & Logic Performing Arts). Also pray for our new staff members: Eber Condrell (Exec Ass’t to Head of Co-School), Sydney Lawrence (Exec Ass’t to Principal), and Sabrina Thompson (Front Desk Team member).

The beginning of a new academic year provides a fresh start. However, for some students (and homeschooling parents) it also awakens anxiety or fear. At such moments, it is good to recall David’s words in Psalm 27.

Psalm 27:1,4 (NIV)

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid? …

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.

Consider light. It illuminates, sanitizes, warms, reveals, captivates. What then does it mean for God to be my light and salvation? Kowing God is my light, is there some darkness I am fearing unnecessarily? Teach me, Lord, how to “dwell” in Your house in my daily routines and to train my gaze on your beauty. Help Greenhouse to be a community that lives unafraid in the light of Your beautiful presence.

 *You can learn more about our new employees at www.greenhousecoschool.org/faculty-staff

Lowly of Heart

Thirty-two new families will be joining Greenhouse this fall. Please pray that the social gatherings and fall orientations this month will help each household begin to find their place in the community. Pray particularly for those families making the transition to homeschooling or co-schooling for the first time. Pray that the new students will be able to establish friendships quickly and that returning students will extend bona fide hospitality.

As we finish out the summer and begin to push toward the new school year, let’s pause to consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 11.

Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

What weighs heavily upon you? What contributes to your weariness or in what ways are you restless? Prayerfully offer yourself to the Lord. How does the Son of God describe Himself? To what degree does His gentleness and lowliness of heart reflect in you? Pray that His promise of an easy yoke may be experienced in our lives together and in our respective households this summer.

The Plans of Our Hearts

Summertime is when much planning and preparation happens. During July, please pray for the Leadership Team: Mary Kiel (Principal), Jerry Smith (Operations Manager) and Tom Spacek (Head of Co-School). Pray that they will practice virtue particularly as they work on strategic planning for the future of Greenhouse. Please pray that all decisions will be shaped by the mind of Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. Also, please join in praying that we will fill several open positions: Performing Arts teacher, Technical Arts teacher, Registrar, and Executive Assistants.

With the Leadership Team in mind, let’s prayerfully consider these proverbs about planning and providence.

Proverbs 16:1-3 (NASB)

The plans of the heart belong to a person,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All the ways of a person are clean in his own sight,
But the Lord examines the motives.

Commit your works to the Lord,
And your plans will be established.

Ponder the significance that plans come from our hearts but the last word comes from the Lord. In what areas of your life might God’s commentary differ from your intentions? Ask the Lord to reveal plans where your clean-seeming motives might need to be re-examined. As creatures, our best planning always calls for a healthy dose of humility before our Creator. What actions (“works”) do you hope to commit to the Lord today? Please pray that each leader at Greenhouse might have a similar posture of heart.

The Work of His Hands

During June when the classrooms are quiet, please pray for the admin staff who faithfully support the mission of Greenhouse. Pray for David Bendele as he oversees a number of facility projects this summer, that each will be completed effectively in a safe and timely manner. Pray for Operations Manager Jerry Smith as he oversees the transition to Google classroom and trains teachers and families. Pray for Barb Kiehn as she oversees purchasing for the new year and helps families transition to a new billing system. Pray that the entire Mission Support team will carry out their responsibilities in ways that manifest the love and glory of God.

With the backdrop of the quiet and impactful ministry of the business office, let’s prayerfully expand our thoughts to consider the formative work of our heavenly Father.

Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)

But now, O Lord, you are our Father;

    we are the clay, and you are our potter;

    we are all the work of your hand.

Consider what it means for you to be clay in the hands of the divine potter. How is God shaping or forming you right now? A clay creation is most easily damaged or deformed before it is fired (bisqued). Contemplate those times when you have been placed in a holy but fiery kiln in order to become solidly formed in Christ. Each ceramic piece is individually formed. How does it impact your life that we are all the work of His hand? Pray for eyes to see and honor that reality throughout the Greenhouse community, as well as in your family and your life.

True Greatness

During May, please join in praying for the Board, as they steward the mission of Greenhouse along with the Leadership Team. Pray that the mission of developing young servant leaders will be central to all that we do. Pray that the Board will provide accountability and godly overall direction for Greenhouse. Ask the Lord for wisdom for them, as well as prayerfulness and foresight in discerning the long-term plans and strategies for Greenhouse. Pray with gratitude for those who are completing their terms, as well as those who are continuing to serve. Seek the Lord for additional members to serve on the Board starting in June.

It helps to be reminded of the heart of Christ as we contemplate notions of servant leadership. Consider His instructive, corrective and illuminating words to His disciples who were indignant about those who would claim places of honor. 

Matthew 20:26-28 (ESV)

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Contemplate whether you have retained vestiges of “lording it over others” that need to be renounced. From what has Christ ransomed you? Consider how Jesus, the Son of Man, has served you. Ponder His acts of service and loving-kindness not only in history, but in your personal history. Then as you worship the Lord, ask whom He would have you serve during this season of your life.

God's Special Possession

Thank you, Builders, for the many ways you support Greenhouse.

During April, we invite you to pray especially for those involved in the admissions process for next year at Greenhouse. We pray that God will draw those students and families to Greenhouse who will be best served and best contribute to the life of this learning community. We pray especially for additional 1st and 2nd graders to begin co-schooling. We pray for strong attendance at the final Open House on April 23, and that the presenters will accurately and winsomely represent Greenhouse. We pray that the admissions interviews will help the families and staff to discern whether Greenhouse is the best option for each household. We pray that the Lord will weave together the student body for each core day just as He desires for His purposes.

Recall how the apostle Peter says that believers are fitted together as living stones within the temple of God as we think about the community being formed at Greenhouse. Peter goes on to say…

1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Ponder the position we have in Christ. In what ways do you declare His praises? How has He pulled you out of darkness into His wonderful light? Prayerfully consider what places you within the people of God. Have you sought connections which are too shallow, that deny our common root in Christ Himself? Relish His abundant mercy.