From The Director, Kathy Irvin:

October 2007- In God's Hands

And we are off… another school year is underway, and we are thrilled to be in our classrooms surrounded by your children. If you were able to attend the AJN Opening Meeting in September, you heard me tell a story from my father's book, Think About It, a story he retold to me this summer that helped me develop a theme for this school year. Briefly, the story is about a village in England that was severely bombed during WWII. At the center of this village stood a beloved statue of Jesus which was toppled and damaged during the bombings, losing his hands. After the war the villagers repaired the statue to the best of their ability but could not afford to pay a sculptor to create new hands. A decision was made to leave him standing handless and the words "He Has No Hands But Ours" were written at his feet.

We come together again, old and new, creating community, growing children, supporting parents. This work of the family is exciting, challenging, exhausting, joy-filled, overwhelming, and lonely. In a world on the run filled with an abundance of stresses, community is life saving. And, what is community but men and women and children reaching out to one another, being there for the celebrations and the heartaches. We extend our hands and our hearts, we be His hands for one another. We listen. We feed. We smile. We care. We hug. We often just be.

Your children already know this and are doing this for each other as they attempt to communicate, play, and care. We sang about it today in our first chapels. "He's got the whole world in his hands." After singing, "He's got the Mommies and the Daddies in his hands, " on three-year-old yelled out, "How about the Big girls?" So we sang another verse!

You may have seen the front parkway of the church filled with frogs on 9/11. My teachers had placed 50 of them there to celebrate a major event in my life. As the day passed, frogs of every kind and size appeared in my office. Years ago I learned that a frog was not only a slimy little creature but could mean Forever Relying On God. Over the years this amphibian has reminded me and many others that we are never alone on this journey. He is with us. He is with our community. He is encouraging us to be His hands. And, in the midst of the Noise, He shows us the Joy! (Come see me if you need a frog for your pocket).