McAlder Campus Blog
Rooted in Love at Christmas: A December Reflection on Ephesians 3
December 10, 2025
As we step into the Christmas season, I’m reminded of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:17–19, where he asks that we would be “rooted and established in love” and come to grasp the vastness of Christ’s love for us. Christmas brings that truth into sharp focus. God’s love is not distant or abstract; it is embodied in Jesus, given to us so we might know Him deeply and personally.
This month, I’ve seen glimpses of that love reflected all throughout our school community—in laughter, in joy, and in the sweet togetherness that makes this place feel like family. Here are a few highlights:
A Season of Joy, Laughter… and Pie!
Our recent pie fundraiser was a perfect example of joyful community. Students were buzzing with excitement to raise money for our school and for the moment they’d been waiting for: THE PIE THROWING! There’s something wonderfully unifying about watching students belly laugh as a teacher takes a pie to the face. The joy was contagious. Whether students were bravely participating or eagerly watching from the crowd, the shared laughter reminded us of how good it is to celebrate together.
Christmas Stories Come to Life
Walking through the hallway lately feels like stepping into a Christmas storybook. Classroom doors are decorated with scenes inspired by beloved Christmas tales like A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Nutcracker. Each door is a creative expression of the season and a reminder of the joy and anticipation this time of year brings.
Christmas Shoppe Excitement
This week, students are enjoying one of the most cherished traditions of the season—our Christmas Shoppe. It is so sweet to see students carefully choosing gifts for parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends. They shop with such pride, knowing they get to give something special to the people they love.
Upcoming Christmas Performances
The holiday season also brings opportunities for students to shine on stage as they share the message and music of Christmas. Students have been practicing with excitement (and a little bit of nervous energy) and are ready to share songs and stories that help point our hearts back to Jesus. Please mark your calendars for the following performance dates and times:
Monday, December 15
Kindergarten–Grade 1: Dress Rehearsal/Matinee at 10:00 a.m. & Evening
Performance at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 16
KPrep: Performance at 10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, December 17
Grades 2–3: Dress Rehearsal/Matinee at 9:00 a.m. & Evening Performance at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 18
Grades 4–5 and selected 6th graders: Dress Rehearsal/Matinee at 9:00 a.m. & Evening Performance at 6:30 p.m.
Partnering With Families—Now and in the Years Ahead
As we approach the time of year when families consider Continuous Enrollment, I want to take a moment to share how deeply grateful I am for you. Partnering with families is one of the greatest joys of this work. It is a privilege to nurture, teach, guide, and encourage your students as they grow academically and spiritually.
Your trust matters. Your commitment to Christian education matters. And your partnership is what makes this school feel like a community grounded in purpose and love. My desire is to continue that partnership for years to come, and to keep cheering on your children, helping them discover their God-given gifts.
As we celebrate this Christmas season and the birth of our Savior, Jesus, may we be, as Paul prayed, rooted deeply in God’s love, strengthened by it, and compelled to share it. I wish you a Christmas season filled with joy, peace, and the love of Christ.
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Called to be Rooted and Established
December 03, 2025
Each December, we all hear the familiar saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” If I’m honest, I’ve said it more often as a platitude rather than as a genuine reminder that there is a deeper meaning to the Christmas season. It wasn’t until I had kids of my own that the beauty of the incarnation started to take root. One night, while rocking my infant daughter to sleep in the light of the Christmas tree, I was struck by her tenderness and vulnerability. Picturing our Savior in that same state drove home for me the outrageously sweet gift that is the incarnation of Christ. The Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, the Great I Am—God, through Jesus Christ, took on the weakness and frailty of humanity. His arrival, a startling act of love, was His response to our sin, pain, and suffering.
Our theme for December, coming from Ephesians 3:17–19 (NIV), is Called to be Rooted and Established. Within those verses, Paul writes, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
The love of Christ was demonstrated by His willingness not only to be born into fragile humanity, but also to live a life in perfect obedience. He took on the punishment that we deserved. He conquered the powers of sin and death. This love does, indeed, “surpass knowledge,” and yet we can know and experience it through the gift of grace. How would our homes, workplaces, and communities be transformed if we moved into this month living truly rooted and established in that awesome and powerful love of Christ? Is there anything better for us to be “rooted and established” in?
As His followers, our celebration of Christmas is not the abstract celebration of a birth—it is the celebration of the reality of God’s love. He heard the cries and desperation of His people in need; He responded in an unbelievable act of self-sacrificing love; and, moreover, He will return one day and bring us home to heaven with Him.
May you be in awe of the truth of God’s Word, of His amazing love, and His saving grace. May that love extend into your home, office, school, and community as you share the good news. May you be ever more rooted and established in the broad, high, and deep love of Christ.
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The Most Musical Time of the Year
November 19, 2025
Greetings from the music room at McAlder Elementary!
We are hard at work as we head into the final stages of preparing our Christmas performances to be shared with our community. The students are memorizing Scripture, learning to work as a team, and striving for excellence in all they do, say, and sing! Our goal is that the singing, speaking, drama, costumes, and motions will all impact our community by glorifying God.
We are blessed to be able to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas with all of you. As stated in one of our musicals: “We could sum up the whole Christmas story in one verse: John 3:16. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and anyone who believes in Him can have eternal life.’”
Please join us at one of our many performances, which will all be held in the gym on the McAlder Campus. We look forward to seeing you there!
Kindergarten & Grade 1 - Monday, December 15, at 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
KPrep - Tuesday, December 16, at 10:00 a.m.
Grades 2 & 3 - Wednesday, December 17, at 9:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Grades 4–6 - Thursday, December 18, at 9:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.
—Isaiah 9:6–7a (NKJV)
Director's Notes — You Can't Take It With You
November 11, 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.
