Welcome to another year at PCS! It is nice to finally have the students back so we can really get into all the great things planned for 2018. On the student’s first day back I spoke about the new and spectacular Perth (Optus) Stadium, which hosted Australia v England as its first event. Being somewhat of a sports fan and appreciator of sporting stadiums, I was excited to have a first look at the facility and hear the feedback from the media and the general public. Through watching on TV, the stadium looked every bit of its 1.6 Billion dollar price tag. The state of the art player and patron facilities, lighting and ground conditions looked sensational. It is definitely an amazing feat of engineering designed to deliver a visual feast for the average sports fan in attendance.
Having taken 15 years to go from concept to reality, involving nearly 6,000 workers and a whole lot of money, I was surprised to see the news feed of the morning after; being dominated by a simple picture of a fish burger bought at the stadium…. To be more precise, it was a couple of dry bits of bun with 2 measly fish fingers, half an old leaf of lettuce and a spot of mayo on the side, all for the bargain price of $12.50. I was shocked that after all the dreaming, planning, spending and construction from the WA Government; news headlines weren’t pictures of the stadium in all its glory, they were of a simple fish burger. The grand vision had been realised, but not to its full capacity. It didn’t matter how many fancy seats they filled, if people didn’t have a simple thing like a quality burger to enjoy, the whole experience was soured. It is doing the little things well that help us achieve the big things.
We may not be building stadiums, but we all have dreams, goals and visions for our lives. Our students are part of a school that is committed to strengthening character traits in order to be the young men and women who are going to succeed in life, not just school. It is doing the small, seemingly insignificant things day in day out that will ultimately develop in us the character traits to achieve the big things. When we examine the life of Christ, we see that Jesus was committed to the big picture, but knew it would only be achieved through a commitment to a strength of character. In other words, He walked the talk, He was who He says He was and He did what He said He would do. With our students and with all of us, we are challenged to do the same, regardless of who is watching or listening.
So whether it is by picking up a piece of rubbish, offering a small word of encouragement or doing jobs without being asked; know that each small action is moulding us into people of integrity, reliability and resilience who are equipped to impact this world for Christ no matter what we do; and that is what we all want for our children.
Have a great week everyone and welcome back!
Glen