Planting Seeds of Truth

Each year, our teachers gather at the start of the school year to prayerfully choose songs and themes for our student worship services. I still remember my first year here—the pastor at the time selected songs she hoped students would carry in their hearts long after they left our school.

This month, you might hear your children singing, “God is our refuge and God is our strength, a very present help in trouble…” This song, based on Psalm 46, is one I grew up singing in church. I didn’t sing it much after that season of life, but years later, during the 2011 earthquake—when I was teaching at YCS—those very words came back to me.

“Therefore I will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” In that frightening moment, the song filled my heart with peace. I was reminded that God was with me. He was in control, no matter what. I could trust Him.

There have been other moments, too, when God brought back scripture or songs I learned as a child—just when I needed them most. As a young student, I didn’t always understand the full meaning of those words, but when the time came, God used them to speak to me in powerful ways.

This year, our school theme is “Stay Calm and Trust God: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.” In our all-school worship services, we’ve been walking through Psalm 23, one verse at a time each month. The worship songs we’ve chosen align with this journey, reinforcing our desire to plant seeds of truth that God can bring to life in each student’s heart—now and for years to come.