He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them.
Shortly before dawn, he went out to them, walking on the lake.
He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake,
they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Mark 6:48-51 NV
In Mark 6, Jesus sent his disciples to the other side of the lake while he stayed back to pray on a mountainside. Several of the disciples were experienced fishermen and they knew how to navigate a boat across the lake. But in this particular situation, they were encountering such heavy winds that they could not make any headway. And they were getting exhausted.
Life can be very challenging at times. Like the disciples in Mark 6, we can find ourselves “straining at the oars” because of our circumstances. Sometimes it can be health-related. Sometimes it can be financial. At other times it might be relational.
If you find yourself “straining at the oars” in some area of your life today, let me encourage you to “cry out” to Jesus. Like the disciples, we may be very experienced at certain tasks and may think we can handle our trials on our own, but there are times when all of us need to “cry out” to Jesus. It’s been said, “The Christian life isn’t difficult. It’s impossible, without Christ living in you.”
Shepherding His Lambs,
David Funk
Superintendent, VCA
ENROLLMENT FOR 2024-25: The early re-enrollment period ends on Monday, March 4, when we open enrollment to the public. As of today, more than 330 students have completed the re-enrollment process for next year. Several classes are now full. If you need extended time to pay the registration fees, please contact Megan Huber at our North Campus and work out a payment plan. Please contact one of the school offices if you are unable to log in to your Sycamore account.
SAT SCHOOL DAY for JUNIORS: The SAT School Day will be Monday, March 4th, and Tuesday, March 5th, for ALL Juniors. Students with accommodations will test on March 4th and students without accommodations will be on March 5th. The SAT will start at 8 am both days and we ask students to be at school no later than 7:45 am. This is a mandatory SAT provided by the Indiana Department of Education for all 11th graders. The SAT will be DIGITAL. Students will need to bring a fully charged Chromebook. An online scientific/graphing calculator is provided, but students are welcome to bring their own scientific or graphing calculator for the test. For additional information, including the calculator policy (cell phones are not permitted), practice tests and sample questions regarding this assessment, please visit College Board at https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Thomae at 219-548-2701.
FAFSA for SENIORS: A quick reminder, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 167 in the Spring of 2023, which requires ALL high school seniors to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid(FAFSA)or opt out of filing by April 15th. The FAFSA opened in December and you can complete the FAFSA through this website, https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa.
MARCH 8 - End of 3rd quarter
GRACE COLLEGE PRESENTATION, March 18, 6:00 pm. - Did you know that VCA is now a partner with GRACE COLLEGE in Winona Lake, IN? Representatives from Grace will be visiting on March 18 with a presentation mainly focused on obtaining an Associate's degree from Grace while in High School and available Dual Credit opportunities. This presentation is targeted more to students entering into 10th-12th grade. We encourage all parents to come and listen. We ask that you RSVP to Michelle Thomae at mthomae@vcacademy.info by Thursday, March 14th. We would love to fill the gym(not a room) with interested parents and students. The Grace College partnership is an amazing opportunity for our High School students.
SPRING BREAK - No school grades PreK-12 on March 25 - April 1. School resumes on Tuesday, April 2.