Whoever wants to be a leader must first become a servant.
~Matthew 20:26 ~
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Students love to be the line leaders or the captain of a team; adults strive for a manager title or the VP of the company! It’s great to feel important right? Or “in charge”?
The Bible verse above reminds me a little bit like the show Undercover Boss-where the boss goes undercover and sees how the company actually functions and what it takes. They usually have an “enlightening” moment and notice how it takes more than a leader to just demand things that, in reality, may not work. Or they see the effort put in from certain employees—even at the bottom of the totem pole–that care and have a servant’s heart.
It makes one think. Again, referencing to the Bible verse above, you must first become a servant if you want to be a leader. Walk the walk to talk the talk. 
May we always follow Jesus’ example and be good servants and leaders!
CALENDAR
May 3-7: Academic Testing Week- Students should have a good night’s sleep, breakfast and remember a water bottle!
May 10-14: BOGO Spring Book Fair
May 14: Spring Carnival @5:30
May 21: Field Day @ Purple Park (Parent help will be needed)
~ It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade ~ Mark 4:31–32
Chapel
Sometimes, less is just more. I don’t have to say too much in this blurb this week. The Bible verse above and the picture below, along with the title, should create a pretty good explanation in your mind of our mission here. We take a different approach here at Immanuel with our students. Even though we do academics (with high expectations), we do sports and extracurriculars, and we do most everything else that schools do. THIS is an extra bonus! We do chapel talks in addition! We pray and hope that the little seed that is planted in all we do at Immanuel, takes root and grows and affects their lives and others until the last day! It’s amazing what the kids take away from chapel each Wednesday (8:30 a.m.) —and don’t forget that YOU are welcome to come as well. Witness the Holy Spirit working on their hearts and let Him work in you too! After all, Spring is planting season…now is the time to come join us!
The mustard seed was a small seed. From the small seed, a plant could grow up to 10 feet high. How did that growth take place? God gave the seed soil, nutrients in the soil, water, sunshine and everything it needed to grow. Even more amazing than the growth of a plant is the growth of the kingdom of God. God plants His Word in the “soil” of the church. God sends the water of Baptism. God sends His Spirit to work through the water and Word so that faith grows in the heart of the believer.
-LCMS School Ministry Chapel Talks
REMINDERS
VBS Registration opens on May 2! June 27th to July 1st 6-8 p.m. Please check out the church website immanuelgaylord.org for more information and to print out your registration form!
CALENDAR
April 28-30: Camp Omega (Grades 6-8)
May 3-7: Academic Testing Week — Students should have a good night’s sleep, breakfast and remember a water bottle!
May 10-14: BOGO Spring Book Fair
May 21: Field Day @ Purple Park (Parent help will be needed)
~ Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. ~
Immanuel’s Got Talent
With all the social media posts people see and the recognition people 
receive or look for, one could say there is a lot of bragging going on or maybe a lot of “Look what I can do!” Yes, we are proud of the students here at Immanuel and we’re going to let them share their talents with you! BUT I’d like to hope we take a different approach to it. Students need to feel good about themselves and thankful for what God has blessed them with, and we want to point out gifts or talents that we don’t waste them! Sometimes, God has given us the ability to do things and we can end up sitting back and having a poor attitude. We don’t want our students going out in to the world with this mindset!
Mission: Possible!
We need to show them what they are capable of and teach them willingness and positivity. This year has been a tough one for a lot of students and we need to do our part in reminding them of the abilities God has given them and how we are going to use them. They may not think playing/singing a song or acting out a Gospel Drama or doing well on a Spelling Bee has any effect on anybody or that it matters– they feel embarrassed or all the other thoughts adolescents have. As adults, there are many obvious reasons we like these events; but as students, we need to remind them again of positivity, cheerfulness and meaning behind everything they do—and apply these to other areas in their lives as well (homework, studying, doing chores). It all boils down to being thankful we are even able to do these things and emphasize trying our hardest and doing our best! Give credit where credit is due!
REMINDER
Go online and order your spring pictures that were taken last week!
CALENDAR
April 13 & 15: K-4 VB Camp 3:30-5
April 18: Gospel Drama @2 p.m.
April 22: Talent Night @ 6:30
May: Spring Carnival
Stem Camps
Track & Field Day
~ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing
in your sight, O Lord. ~ Psalm 19:14
Let’s Be Honest
• Great job!
• I Love You Too! (hastily)
• We need to get together soon.
• I’m doing good! (with a smile)
• Yes, I did that, Mom!
• I’m no good at this!
Let’s be honest…we’ve all heard these phrases or something similar or said them ourselves. No big deal, right? Some of them are even positive things to say! We don’t need to pour our hearts out to everyone, or we may just be trying to be nice; maybe it is out of habit or our intention is not ill-harmed. But like anything, too much of one thing can only lead to trouble. One lie usually has to lead to another or we may be misleading someone. A big one to think about as well is are we being true to ourselves? Are we trying to live a perfect life or trying to hide another by just not opening up and being truthful about how life really is going? Most importantly, are we being true to the life God gave us and not trying to be someone we are not—taking advantage of the opportunities He hands us and using even the tough times as moments of truth to witness to His Word.
Our new character trait for this month is honesty. Let’s help show our students not only to be nice with our words to others, but that honesty requires other traits along with it-good judgement, responsibility, loyalty and courage! And to always be honest with themselves—as in our mission statement:
“Embrace their identity as God’s child!”
REMINDERS
Tues. (13th) & Thurs. (15th): Grades K-4/ Boys & Girls Volleyball Camp 3:30-5
SIGN UP for Talent Night (Gold slip coming home)
CALENDAR
April 13 & 15: K-4 VB Camp 3:30-5
April 18: Gospel Drama @2 p.m.
April 22: Talent Night @ 6:30
April 28-30: Camp Omega (Grades 6-8)