Recently I was doing that thing that a lot of blokes love to do, and that is channel surf.
This is this highly devised downtime skill requires an individual to be able to lie on the couch, while simultaneously pushing the remote control every 15 or so seconds to change the television channels, a highly complex skill!
As I surfed from one channel to the next, I came across the ageless movie ‘The Karate Kid’ and stumbled into the scene where Mr Miyagi was teaching Daniel a basic defence move, “wax on, wax off”, as he polished one of Mr Miyagi’s cars. As Daniel was toiling away, he became more and more frustrated with Mr Miyagi because he believed that this was a pointless exercise, it had no purpose. However, as we all know, later in the movie it is the “wax on, wax off” move helps Daniel win the Karate Competition!
There are times when we can be involved in activities like Daniel, which seem to give us no clue as to our purpose in life, which sometimes leads to bewilderment or confusion. The reason why these feelings can well up within is because we are born with a sense of purpose in our hearts; we go in search of ourselves, wanting to know our identity, believing if we can fathom this mystery, we can then make sense of life and have a sense of purpose. There is so much talk that is framed around aspiration and achievement based upon this implicit understanding that we are born with a purpose to accomplish.
This is also probably why the quest for searching for “the reason why” lies at the heart of books, games and films; we resonate with this sense of adventure and realising of an inner sense of potential, even if we are unable to describe it.
God speaks about this sense of purpose to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah when God says to him, “for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Jeremiah needed to hear these words from God and he held onto this promise as his life unfolded.
Life is challenging even from the moment of conception. We are pitted against forces far greater than ourselves, and we must actively engage in finding and realising our purpose. The great news is that God sows the seed of purpose into every human heart from the moment of conception.
Within this seed lies our true DNA, our unique genetic code that reveals our true heritage as God’s precious creation, like a recipe book that holds the Creator’s instructions which enable each of us to gaze upon God and grow up being transformed to reflect Him.
To help our students and their families to find their God seed is one of the greatest privileges we have at Heathdale. As we have the opportunity to speak into the lives of our students, we desire to invest in our students by helping them to become and do all that God has created them to be! This is why we speak of helping each student to find and develop their God-given potential.
There are times when our students feel like they are “waxing on, waxing off”, but we will help to lead and guide these young people through such process as the God seed continues to grow and flourish within.
Blessings,
Ross Grace
Executive Principal