By Ileana A.

This Friday, during our morning chapel service, Father Liz invited two students to reenact the scene where Gabriel tells Mary what is about to happen to her. The reenactment was a contemporary version. It ended with Gabriel saying, “God doesn’t want you to give Him your body, He wants you to give Him your yes.” Father Liz wanted us to ask ourselves if we would be able to give God our yes.

Imagine that. Having an angel appear before you and tell you that God has chosen you to have his son. In that situation, I would probably ask myself what people would think if I tried to tell them why I was pregnant. No one would believe me. In fact, I probably would not even believe that the person in front of me was an angel. I could see myself interrogating him and then making a phone call to the police. “Hello? Yeah, hi, there is a psycho in my house telling me he’s an angel and that I’m supposed to be pregnant.  Come quick.”

Then I hear Jesus’ words in my head; “O you of little faith.” Obviously, Mary had such a strong faith that even though she might have been afraid of what could happen, she said yes without having one doubt that God would take care of her. If I never doubted, I would always be comforted and at peace with whatever situation happened in my life. I do not know if anybody in our day and age would take a man seriously if he told them he was an angel sent from God, but maybe that is why it happened when it did. So instead, I strive to be like Mary, and make my faith grow stronger every day.

By Ileana A.

On Monday, Father Liz read us a book called The Prince Mammoth Pumpkin. This book, written by James P. Adams, is a life parable. The book is about a farmer who has his own garden and plants many different kinds of fruits and vegetables but his most favorite thing to grow is pumpkins. One day, this farmer is flipping through a magazine and sees a new kind of pumpkin seed for sale. The picture shows a pumpkin next to its farmer and the farmer’s son, and lo, the pumpkin is bigger than the boy.

The seed comes in the mail and soon it is planted and cared for as if it were the farmer’s child. One morning the farmer wakes up and knows that the pumpkin would be fully grown to its mammoth size. However, when he goes to check on his prince, he finds it chopped to pieces. Angrily, the farmer plows under the rest of his pumpkin and all his fruits and vegetables. If he could not have his pumpkin, then there was no point in having a garden either.

Later, a boy knocks on the farmer’s door and asks for one of his pumpkins. What pumpkins, asks the farmer. When he had plowed under his pumpkin and his garden, the farmer had spread the pumpkin seeds all over his fields. Now there were hundreds of prince mammoth pumpkins.

What I heard in this story was a message of hope. Sometimes the things you love the most can be taken away faster than the time it took for you to get it. When that happens, you don’t know what to do. Even then, faith and trust can replace that despair with more than what you had before. I do not know how much faith the farmer had, but even if he had very little faith, God still provided for him.

Matthew 6:26 says, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

By Yana K.

Father Liz and Deacon Barbara have announced that St. James, the Church that a couple of students go to every Sunday, has invited anyone that is graduating this June to come this week. St. James will be holding a special service to celebrate all of the accomplishments of the graduates and to send them out with a renewed sense of God.

This Friday in Chapel, when the reading was being read by Kevin D, a senior student, my friend sitting next to me leaned over and whispered, “Isn’t it crazy that we’re right at the beginning again? The readings are beginning the cycle again.” It struck me hard, what she said, because the new beginning of the readings symbolizes a couple of things. One being how fast time flew by at the school. Another is how new students are coming in, hearing the readings for the first time, and they (like us) will stay until the cycle is finished. It is our time to go (the June graduates), and that surprises me to no end.

So when Kevin finished with a “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation,” I sighed with the realization that this would be the last time I would hear those words at 7 in the morning, in our Chapel.

(Admin Note:  This is the final post from Yana who has served this semester as a student intern.  She has done a wonderful job capturing the spirit of the school, as well as keeping tabs on campus life. )

By Yana K.

The biggest reason my parents sent me to The Family Foundation School was because I acted compulsively at home. Over my stay here, I’ve learned to take time and think rationally about decisions I make. But for some reason, at a Friday Chapel service with Father Liz and Deacon Barbara, I did not allow myself to think of consequences. I like to think God led me through that compulsive decision.

That Friday, Deacon Barbara announced that there would be a sign-up for “Bible Studies,” and anyone who would like to join should sign. With no second thought, I got up and wrote my name on the paper in pen. I left no room to change my decision. So each week on Tuesday, the group meets, and I am there.

“Coincidentally,” at the most recent meeting of the Bible Study group, we spoke of God’s hand leading us when we don’t know where to turn. The morning of my compulsive decision, I was desperate for some direction out of my spiritual standstill. With sleepy eyes and a still foggy mind, my guard was down enough to allow Someone else to make that decision for me; and I have no complaints.

(An audio: “God Will Take Care of You”)

By Yana K.

Father Liz and Deacon Barbara recently announced that they have some new ideas. During a Friday Chapel service in the beginning of the month of April, they offered anyone who is interested the opportunity to make Anglican Prayer Beads. Every Friday morning until Friday afternoon, Father Liz will be in her office with the materials needed to guide anyone through this new experience. The beads are similar to the Catholic Rosary. There is a different count on them, but both have a purpose of focusing and concentrating one’s attention. Through focusing on something higher than the plane we live in (tests, work, dealing with daily difficulties, etc.), the beads allow the one who is praying to become closer to God.

The season of Lent is a time that Father Liz and Deacon Barbara take very seriously. They do whatever possible to help others, in an extra special loving way.

Something else that they will be doing is holding a Mass of Penance with Father Chris Welsh on Sunday.

By Yana K.

Deacon Barbara and Father Liz, the Episcopalian chapel service leaders, have recently added two new practices in The Family Foundation School. There are 14 Stations of the Cross in the chapel. On Fridays, each of 14 chosen students stands near one of the 14 Stations. They read a passage relative to their station when their turn comes. The rest of the students read along in identical pamphlets.

On Friday, March 25, it was the Feast of the Annunciation. Barbara Deacon spoke about how the Annunciation is very relative to the 14 Stations. Throughout the 14 Stations, Jesus is dying, and is soon reborn, similar (but very different) to when he was born from Mary’s tomb.

Also, Father Liz and Deacon Barbara are holding a Bible Study every Tuesday night after dinner for whoever wants to come. March 22^nd was the first time the Bible Study group met. The group read the beginning of the Bible and got into a long discussion about who God is, and who He can be in our lives.

By Luke V.

Bishop Gladstone B. “Skip” Adams is the current Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York.  Bishop Adams is the tenth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York and was consecrated in October of 2001. On Thursday May 27, Bishop Adams came to visit The Family Foundation School to talk with the student body for a few minutes as well as enjoy lunch with several Episcopal students.

The message the Bishop had for the student body was inspirational. Back in January of this year the devastating earthquake struck Haiti, with over 200,000 causalities and millions others being affected by the destruction. Bishop Jean Zache Duracin is the Episcopal Bishop of Haiti and after the earthquake he declared an early end to lent and ushered in the Easter season early. A man that often played the trumpet in the cathedral was notable to Bishop Adams because he only had one arm.  When Bishop Adams reached the Bishop of Haiti by phone shortly after the earthquake he inquired if the trumpet player had lived through the earthquake.  The bishop reported that the man had taken the Bishop’s call to celebrate Easter seriously and had begun walking through the streets of Haiti playing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” on a trumpet. Through all the destruction the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus was still pronounced in the suffering country of Haiti.

Bishop Adams also spent time with several of the Episcopal students of The Family Foundation School. Father Liz Groskoph, Deacon Barbara as well as the Bishop joined the students for lunch. This is not the first visit to FFS for Bishop. He has visited every so often to continue spreading the Good News to the students of The Family Foundation School. We need to ask ourselves, how are we spreading God’s Good News today? Are we helping out another person? Are we thanking God for the wonders he has given us? Are we telling others the Good News?

By Luke V.

Father Liz Groskoph, Episcopal Priest, started an Episcopal Bible Study Class for students interested in learning more about their faith. A small group of students signed up to participate in this Bible Study Class held on Tuesday during Activity Periods.

Participants were requested to fill out a form asking why they wanted to be in the Bible Study Class. Andrew G., an Episcopalian and a student in Betton House, joined the Bible Study Class. “I wanted to get a better connection with God and understand my religion,” Andrew acknowledged.

During this class, they discussed certain doctrines and concepts of the Episcopal religion. They also talked about the Holy Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and other specific beliefs that Episcopalians have. Other beliefs such as The Creed and Salvation were discussed to give the students a better understanding of the Episcopal faith. During this class all of the participants wrote a card to Turner L., a student who recently left our community.

By the end of the class Andrew expressed his experience saying, “I learned about the beliefs of the Eucharistic and the Episcopal Church and how to meditate and worship in a healthy way.” Father Liz Groskoph will continue these classes on Tuesday’s during Activity Periods to help students learn more about their religion.