“A fresh start” is usually a welcomed experience for most people. We all make mistakes or find we have failed to complete certain tasks, and instead of facing ongoing consequences, we are relieved to hear someone say, “Let’s just make a fresh start.” I feel this way more and more as I try to maneuver my way around this technological world of gizmos and gadgets with their multiplying passwords and codes! The only relief I get from this crazy maze of platforms which do not seem to talk with one another, is to force quit and shut down…then start over!
This feeling of frustration in the above-mentioned instance helps me to understand the relief my students might feel as we come to a new nine-week period of grading. We have gone a step further by making the first nine-week period and the third nine-week period reports just a paper with a note about how things are going in each subject. This is far less threatening than the formal cumulative report that prints the semester grades.
Although we explained and explained, we couldn’t get parents to relax and accept the 1st and 3rd reports as “progress reports.” Perhaps some of the pressure is due to banks and commercial establishments offering free prizes or awards for straight A’s on all grade reports. Thus, parents looked at this 3rd report as do or die! Some of the weaker students just accepted it as the crushing blow and gave up on any further effort. Now, we hope, it will just serve as a wake-up call to start over with a better grip on finding success.
As a Christian, I am very aware of how important a fresh start is. Jesus came to show me how to accept God’s love, and to show me how to love God. I got a fresh start! My life has never been the same since that moment.
I tried in my previous school district to help students achieve more by starting the A grades at 85%. I reasoned that in a norm-curve test situation, 50% was considered average or the norm. So, why wasn’t 85% considered above average enough to merit an A? Yes, quite a few people yelled “foul,” but during the few years I was able to keep this standard, something very neat happened! Students who had never before received an A were so proud that they worked harder than ever to keep an A, and even asked me, “Can I do the work needed to make a real A? It was giving them a fresh start at being an excellent student. The ones who really hated the idea were a few of those whose ego didn’t want any “unmerited company.”
This week I’ve listened to the news as a musical celebrity has begged his accusers to stop their charges against his past abuses. He cried for mercy. It has been a gut-wrenching sight for everyone to see and hear. It reminds me that just like forgiveness by Jesus, a fresh start doesn’t always stop the crop of consequences that grow out of previous mistakes. David, a man after God’s own heart, found that he had to live with the consequences of his chosen sins. And although the pain was great, he still was able to find a fresh start from God.
We have a book in our school called, “Have You Filled Someone’s Bucket Today?” Giving others a fresh start may bring you joy as well as fill someone else’s bucket with joy. Try it.
- Kay