High School Campus Blog
Come, thou fount of every blessing; Tune my heart to sing thy grace.
November 19, 2025
The music department has been overflowing with blessings this fall as we have been focusing on tuning our hearts to proclaim God’s grace. Tuning an instrument before a performance is important. If you had the best musician in the world perform on an instrument that was out of tune, they could play all of the right notes, and it would still sound bad. Take Billy Joel on an untuned piano or Yo-Yo Ma on an untuned cello: No amount of expertise and technique can make an out-of-tune instrument sound good. Likewise, as Christ followers, we can try to do all of the right things with our lives, but if our hearts are not “tuned” to the Lord, our work is meaningless. As we have been preparing students to perform music that honors the Lord, we have been striving to do so with hearts that are attuned to Him.
Band, choir, and worship students have had many opportunities to collaborate with each other and perform for our community this fall. Students across many classes and grades performed at our second annual Fall Fest: Music and Mingle. Members of the symphonic band provided prelude music for the National Honors Society Induction Ceremony, and both the band and choir performed musical tributes at the Veterans Day assembly. The jazz band, Shades of Blue, and the worship team filled the Night of Generosity with music from start to finish. The music department has also been able to utilize the new WIN (What’s Important Now) time this year to provide sectionals, lessons, and combined rehearsals that otherwise would not have been possible between different classes.
As our fall events wrap up, we look forward to Christmas. No other holiday is as closely tied to music as Christmas is. Whether it’s the sound and feeling of sleigh bells or the act of singing carols together, Christmas and music go hand in hand. As we prepare to musically celebrate our Savior’s birth, we can easily get wrapped up in the busyness of the season. Rather than relying on our own strength to cut through the noise, we can be reminded that, as the hymn says, His streams of mercy are never ceasing; and that calls “for songs of loudest praise.”
We hope that our upcoming performances will be a special gift for you and your families this Christmas. We invite you to join us at our concerts! We will have two choir concerts on Tuesday, December 9—one at 6:00 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. Our band concert will be on Thursday, December 11, at 7:00 p.m. Both concerts will take place in the JH/HS Forum Deo Gloria (PAC). The orchestra will be combining forces with the elementary students to perform several concerts in the community on Friday, December 12, culminating in a 2:15 p.m. concert in Center Court at South Hill Mall. Please join us as we celebrate the season through music!
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Director's Notes — You Can't Take It With You
November 12, 2025
As I write this, I am sitting in the Forum Deo Gloria PAC looking at an unpainted set that was lovingly built by many parents, students, and staff over the weekend. Our Production Workshop class and the cast will be painting it, bringing color and pattern to its bare, rough walls. As the week progresses, student actors will continue to rehearse and bring to life comedic characters written in the 1930s. Next week we will add lights, sound cues, microphones, and costumes. The following week, November 20–22, we will add the final element, the audience, who will experience the story for the first time and hopefully come to love its quirky characters and uplifting message as much as we have through this process.
This massive collaborative art form, theatre, brings together people from all walks of life. Among others, we need individuals skilled in construction who understand how pieces of raw material can come together to form a whole; visual artists who use their imaginations to envision another place and time and use their talent to transport audiences there; and actors who use their instruments of voice, physicality, and expression to embody another person’s experience and explore how humans interact with each other in times of conflict and moments of connection.
This whole process recalls the letter Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus (and likely other churches) in the first century. In Ephesians 1:10 Paul explains God’s purpose is to bring all things in heaven and earth together in Christ. As the letter goes on, he explores the multifaceted wisdom of God in choosing to do this through the story of the people of Israel, which culminates in Israel’s Messiah, Jesus. Through Him, God brought the gentiles into His chosen family. Now that blessing can extend to all humanity! Paul also describes powers, both physical and unseen, that separate and divide. He contrasts these divisive powers with God’s purpose to unify all things in Christ.
The story of the Bible, and a central theme in Ephesians, is about God bringing two different families together. How interesting that this could also describe the basic plot of our play! Moreover, putting on a play is a big project that brings together people with diverse backgrounds and abilities. God’s big project to heal the cosmos in Jesus unites people from different ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds into the one eternal family of our Creator. He planned before time how we would show His wisdom to the cosmic powers as we, His followers, grow together into a dwelling fit for His Spirit. We live out His calling as we represent Jesus to this hurting world, bringing healing and unity wherever we find brokenness.
Maybe this play appears to be just a sweet, little, old-fashioned comedy—but, in God’s wisdom, maybe the servant-hearted community that brought this project together and the unity our story points to as an ideal could really represent a tiny working model of new creation.
November: Grace, Growth, and Generosity
November 05, 2025
Mrs. Walling and I are always amazed at how fast the school year flies by. I can’t believe it’s already November! By God’s grace, we have been able to create lots of positive momentum thus far and we pray that it will only continue to grow. Here are a few highlights as we reflect on what has already happened and look forward to what’s ahead.
Called for a Purpose – Studying the Book of Ephesians
Personally, I have loved how we are slowly walking through Ephesians this year. The reading of God’s Word in every chapel has aligned our students and speakers’ hearts and minds in a special way. Additionally, the truths that we have been unpacking are resonating with our students and challenging them to live in light of their calling.
WINs
This school year, we introduced our WIN time, which stands for What’s Important Now. This is a flexible time where students and teachers creatively and purposefully use time to help students in their educational pursuits as well as provide opportunities for them to grow as people. A few WINs to highlight are:
Bible and Prayer Room (HS)
Zumba with Mrs. Pettersen (HS)
Reading Rooms (JH)
Performing Arts Group Practices
Veterans Keeping Us Safe
At the JH/HS, we are blessed to have many veterans and spouses of veterans working on our campus. Right now, we want to highlight our safety and security veterans who ensure our campus is safe every day.
Michael Hawkins – Campus Security Officer
- Sargeant Major in Army
- 39 years of service
- 6 deployments
- Began his career in the infantry ended up in sci-ops/civil affairs
Jon Wallstrom
- Corporal E4 Marine
- 5 ½ years of service
- 2 deployments to Iraq
- Rifleman
Night of Generosity – November 15
We are eagerly anticipating the Night of Generosity. We are always blown away by the generosity of our community. Click HERE for more information.
I-Term Kickoff
IMPACT Term (I-Term) is one of the most life-changing experiences that we offer at CCS. Our students are commissioned to live out the gospel by serving others and sharing the good news of Jesus! In December, I-Term will officially begin with our annual kickoff breakfast full of praise, a powerful message, pancakes, and more!
God is doing great things at CCS, and we look forward to reflecting further on his goodness during this upcoming season of gratitude and community.
Josh Kristoff
HS Principal
Jenny Walling
JH Principal
Wave Upon Wave: God's Abundant Grace
October 29, 2025
What comes to mind when you hear “incomparable riches”?
Maybe a stunning home overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a bank account that never runs dry, or a household brimming with warmth and laughter comes to mind. If you’re like me, you might picture an endless table decked out with delicious food.
But in Ephesians 2, Paul doesn't refer to “incomparable riches” while describing material wealth or earthly comfort. He points us to something infinitely greater: the incomparable riches of God’s grace, culminated in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
It’s worth slowing down to let these words sink in.
Incomparable. Riches. Grace. Kindness. In Christ Jesus.
Each word describes a facet of God’s unmeasurable generosity toward us. We have received so much good from His hand; good that is unearned and undeserved. That is grace.
This November, Cascade Christian will dwell on the powerful truth that we are Called by Grace.
We were dead in our sins, but by grace, made alive.
We were children of wrath, but by grace, forgiven and restored to our heavenly Father.
In his book Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine (2014), Max Lucado paints this picture of grace:
Watch an ocean wave crash against the beach ... No sooner will one wave crash into the sand than another appears. Then another, then another. This is a picture of God’s sufficient grace. Grace is simply another word for God’s tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. It comes at us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We’ve barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then, bam, here comes another. (110)
God’s grace doesn’t just rescue us; it renews us! Grace is a force that propels us forward, transforming us to become people abundant in love and care for our neighbors.
When we grasp how deeply we’ve been loved and are being loved, we uncover a freedom and lasting joy that overflows into our relationships and everyday lives. Grace calls us. Grace transforms us. Grace shines through us.
