Does beauty really exist, or is it just in our heads? Does it even matter?

How have our culture’s standards of beauty affected the way we see ourselves and the way we live our lives?

Students, Parents, Faculty, and Friends of Alma Heights are invited to attend this seminar, including a lecture with question and answer session with Dr. John Mark Reynolds of the Torrey Honor Institute at Biola University. This talk has been presented around the globe at secular and Christian universities.

Please join us on Thursday, January 26, at 7 PM in the Alma Heights library at 1030 Linda Mar Blvd for a discussion on this interesting topic that is more relevant than you might think!

Admission is free, but a $10.00 minimum donation is recommended.

Students are also welcome, but the seminar is geared toward older students and adults.

Concussion Form (click on form to download)

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Ayres, CMAA

Athletic Administrator

Two days later came the first Sunday of Advent, and we lit the first purple candle on the wreath at church. Pastor Troy explained that the purple represents the amazing contradiction of Christ’s suffering and his royalty. God’s people watched, waited, prayed, and were awed by the thought of Messiah coming.   We join them in these things as we think about His past, present, and  future coming.    A pink candle came  this past weekend, signalling a shift from quiet waiting to joyous celebration.  ’Joy to the world!  The Lord is come!  Let earth receive her  King!   Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing!”

Not many of us in the busy bay area have bothered with advent wreaths, or church services, or any other thoughtful Christmas traditions.   We have places to go and presents to buy. We don’t care much for waiting or for thinking. Our season began with a frenzied Black Friday, and we’ve maintained our frenetic pace ever since. Many of us will be relieved to be done with Christmas. The pace and the spending are just too exhausting.   Other more devoted and energetic consumers will be up and shopping feverishly on December 26, hoping for even greater success than on Black Friday.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Girls @1:30pm

Boys @3pm

Thankfulness is extraordinarily powerful. It blesses the one who is thankful, and it blesses the thankful person’s friends, family, and leaders. In fact, it is so powerful that it can bless anyone the thankful person meets. When a thankful person walks into a room, it changes everything.

The problem with thankfulness is its very high cost. Like most powerful and precious things, it costs so much that we often choose something else.  To have thankfulness, I must give up something that is near and dear to me. I must give up my selfishness.

Our children are watching us all the time, and they are particularly curious to learn what we really value and how we will spend our treasure. When we treasure selfishness and refuse to spend it down to gain thankfulness, our children notice, and they learn, and they imitate. When they are very young, their imitation plus their natural tendency toward selfishness results in tantrums. “Mine!” and “No!” and “Gimme that!” are among our darling toddlers’ favorite words.

Some children remain so selfish that it stunts their growth, and they continue or resume their tantrums even as young adults. This is dangerous and debilitating. A teen having a tantrum or another powerful manifestation of selfishness can wreak havoc in a family, or class, or group of friends.

As parents, we become frustrated if our children are typically angry, stubborn, or even just whiny. When our kids our stunted and drowning in their own selfishness, it can cause us deep anxiety and alienation.   We wonder where we went wrong. We remember our sacrifices. The sleepless nights with the baby. The thousands of diapers and dozens of band-aids. The birthday cakes and piles of Christmas presents. The rides to soccer and ballet. The house or car we could have had if we hadn’t been paying tuition.

When we see our children hurting themselves, hurting us, and hurting others, we are in danger of becoming passive. We don’t know what to do, so we may withdraw into our own doubts and gradually become more and more emotionally and spiritually distant.

But there are some things we can do to help ourselves and our children. I believe that one of the most powerful is to invest ourselves in thankfulness. It will cost us a lot, but the rewards are worth considering. Imagine the impact in your home if your words and choices become dramatically more thankful than they are now.

What would it be like if your child begins to imitate you as you seek God’s help and gradually become a very grateful person? Imagine the effect on your child’s team and class if you become a parent who steadily expresses thanks to the coach and the teachers. What if you look for good things in the homework assignments your child brings home? What if you regularly demonstrate thankfulness for each good thing your child learns, even if this learning comes through difficult circumstances (like getting a disappointing grade, or sitting on the bench during a game).   What if your thankfulness becomes contagious, rubbing off on your child, his friends, the teacher, the coach, and the other parents?   What if it becomes a tsunami of blessing, washing away selfishness throughout our community!   What if the blessing flows back to you through your child?

It helps me so much when my child is actively thankful. When I am exhausted from a difficult day, just three little words, “Thank you, Daddy,” and a hug from Joey changes everything.    It’s one of those moments where God’s kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.   It’s a sweet and healing moment.

So, Happy Thanksgiving 2o11!   May it be a holiday (a Holy Day) like no other!    I’m praying that God will help me to deeply and gratefully enjoy the football and turkey and relatives.    And, I certainly hope any relatives reading this will forgive me for grouping them with the turkey and football.   Like thankfulness, forgiveness is powerful and necessary.

AHC Eagles vs Cornerstone Christian

Saturday, Oct. 15 @1pm

at Alma Heights

CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER

• Game Time Events- Football Game, Cheer Team, barbeque, half time game, music
• Harvest Bowl Admission- $5 General Admission, $3 Seniors, $1 Student
• AHC BOOSTER Members- FREE lunch provided (must show valid Booster Card)
• AHC High School Students and Alumni- Harvest Fest after the Harvest Bowl @4pm-8pm in the AHC gym. Featuring Bouncy Boxing, The Wrecking Bowl, Rock Band on PS3, class line dancing competition and much more! Pre-sale $5. At the door $7.

Shadowing is a great opportunity for your child to see the school in action and meet the students that they could be attending school with! AHC does not have specific shadowing days; instead, we give you the opportunity to choose which day works best for your student’s schedule.

Please take a moment to schedule your visit today.