What is Classical Christian Education?

From an introduction I gave at the Christian Heritage Club fundraising event featuring Josh McDowell...

Abraham Kuyper, a famous Dutch politician and theologian, once said "...there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, 'mine!'"

This quote is a great summary of what a Biblical Classical Christian school, such as Bethel Prep, is all about.

We believe, as our mission statement says, that Jesus Christ is the center of all learning. Why is He the center of all learning?

Because as Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Now most Christians are familiar with this verse. What I ask you to focus on is that Jesus is the truth. He is not like the truth. He is not an example of the truth. He is Truth. When students study Jesus, they study truth. When they study truth, they study Jesus. This includes all truth, such as math facts, grammar rules and historical events.

This is what it means to have Jesus Christ at the center of all learning. Our foundation is truth, thus our foundation is Christ, the creator and Lord of all.

We go about teaching truth by adhering to the classical model, which consists of three subjects; grammar, logic and rhetoric. We correspond those subjects to three age groups - the elementary school, the middle school and the high school.

In the elementary years students are good remembering large amounts of information. We take advantage of this by having our students commit to memory many facts related to math, grammar, history, Bible and so on.

In the middle school years our students learn how to reason and discern by being taught formal logic as they begin a Great Book study.

During the high school years, as our students continue to study the Great Books, they learn how to express their thoughts and wisdom with eloquence by learning rhetoric.

In conclusion, what is Biblical Classical Christian Education? Simply put it is the study of truth using the trivium. And with God's blessing we hope to accomplish our mission of, "Shaping the future and restoring our Christian heritage with Jesus Christ at the center of all learning."

Bethel Prep - Five Years and Counting

Ellody Hope, Update VI

Welcome Home Ellody.

Ellody Hope, Update V

Hello,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the prayers! Ellody had an incredible night last night! She was on the oxygen all night, but slept better than she has since we've been here. She was able to come off the oxygen around 11:30 this morning and continues to breathe on her own! That's 12 hours and counting!!!

Provided we have no major set backs overnight, we will be cleared for discharge in the morning.

Please pray for a peaceful night.

Love,

Melissa

One Step Forward...

...500 steps back.

Well, that's where I feel like we are right now. Apparently, that's RSV. I think the last update I gave was yesterday when she was taken off of the oxygen. She did fine for a few hours, but had to be put back on oxygen in the late afternoon. Last night was horrible and she did not fall asleep until 5:30 in the morning. She did sleep until 10, so that was good. I'm not sure what's going on with her at night. She seems restless and the only way I know how to comfort her is by nursing. Obviously, this is physically exhausting for me and does not really help her either. They tried giving her a little Tylenol last night, but it did not help. Pray that tonight is a better night for us both.

We had a rough start to today with a nursing session that ended in a coughing spell and vomiting. However, after that they did allow her to come off of the oxygen. This was around 10:30 this morning. She did well on just room air all day, but started having trouble keeping her levels up at about 5:30 this evening. The nurse, charge nurse and several doctors came in and talked about what should be done. Ultimately, the decision was to put her back on the oxygen after a good suctioning out of her nose, mouth and throat. She HATES that and it's difficult to watch, but the benefits are immediately noticeable as she completely relaxes afterwards.

This virus can be so deceiving. One minute, I feel like we are hours from being discharged. The next I feel as though we could be here for another week. It's emotionally draining. I've decided to focus on some positives from today:

1. Ellody was able to breathe on her own for a longer amount of time today than yesterday.

2. I got a shower AND washed my hair this morning...you have NO idea what a change that makes!

3. I made an executive decision to dress Ellie in her cute, comfy pjs after being in that yucky hospital gown for days. I think she appreciated the change. And she sure does look cute!

4. Last night, we decided to let the girls come up and visit their sister. They were only in the room for a few minutes, but every time Ellody heard Addison's or Emerson's voice, she would break into a big smile. Right before leaving, we had an impromptu sing-along session. Ellody was BEAMING and that just melted my heart.

5. Joe was able to come up today by himself. That allowed for me to go downstairs for a while which is a nice break from being in this room, and it allowed Joe to be with Ellie for some cuddle time.

6. While eating downstairs, I was reminded of how blessed I am to have 3 beautiful, healthy (relatively) baby girls. There are many, many parents here who would trade places with me in a heartbeat.

Blessings to you all and thank you for continuing to lift us up in prayer,

Melissa

Ellody Hope, Update III

Good morning...is it morning? Well, whenever it is...

We have progress! Although Ellody did not improve at all over the night and I got a little flustered with the doctor/nurses, we are seeing progress this morning. Once she finally settled around 2 am, Ellody slept peacefully until around 7, which is great!

She had a rough nursing session this morning because of all the coughing, thus most of the milk came back up. Before the next feeding I had the nurse come in and suction her. She took a great feeding that time and I also gave her a sponge bath. Right before the bath the respiration specialist came in and we decided to go ahead and lower the oxygen. She was only receiving half a liter so we were going to lower it to a quarter a liter. However, the oxygen meter that she currently has only goes by halves, so it can only go from .5 down to 0. I gave her the go ahead to try just turning it off. Well, that was three hours ago and Ellody has responded wonderfully!!! Ideally, her level would be at 100% and with RSV it is acceptable to be anything above 90%. She has been hovering right about 93% since it was turned off.

In order to be discharged, she must be completely off any oxygen support for 24 consecutive hours. Please pray that this process has started.

Thanks for the continued prayer and support. Joe is going to bring the girls up later this afternoon so that I can at least go down and have a meal with them...I miss them terribly!

Blessings,

Melissa

PS - Thank you all for lifting me up in your prayers too. I was reminded this morning how different our situation could have been when our new roommate was admitted straight from the ER in almost the exact same condition as Ellody a few days ago.

Ellody Hope, Update II

Greetings,

We are coveting your prayers and are blessed by all of the offers to help. Thank you everyone.

I wish I could give you better news, but things remain pretty much the same with Ellody. She is still on the oxygen, although they are going to try to start the weaning process tomorrow. They did try once today, and it did not go well at all.

She is also still being suctioned, although they are coming in to do that less frequently. They suction her every 3-4 hours now and she is responding well to that.

We did have to be moved to a different floor this afternoon. When we were admitted, we were put on a BRAND NEW "short stay unit" which was nothing less than beautiful and fabulous. The room was gorgeous and there were just 15 beds on the floor, so the staff was readily available at any given moment. This unit is only open Monday-Saturday at 3pm at which point they close and move any patients that need a longer stay to other floors.

So, we have been moved to a much older floor. All of the rooms are shared, so Ellody and I have roommates. There is also a shared bathroom that joins us with the room next door. The "parent shower" is down the hall. Needless to say, a far cry from the life of luxury I've been living the past few days.

God is certainly dealing with me through this ordeal. Upon being moved to our new digs, I found myself crying like a baby. I'm sure part of it was the emotional and physical exhaustion kicking in, but another part was my ridiculous ego. I was upset about the new location. Mad that I was no longer in the best part of the hospital.

SERIOUSLY MELISSA? There are parents here with dying children and you're upset because of the accommodations? How pathetic.

I went for a walk and spent some time in prayer. I am not the patient here and my comfort is not their concern. Ellody is still at the best place possible and we have the best scenario with me being here and Joe able to be at home with the girls.

SO, add my ego to your prayer list!

Upon entering our new room and after Ellody was assessed, they informed us that we will NOT be coming home tomorrow. I've learned to just get that question out of the way with in the beginning of each new shift. It just gives me the right mindset. Right now, it's just a waiting game. Waiting for her to be off oxygen for 24 hours.

While home is most certainly our goal, home with a restored baby is what we need. As hard as it is for me to be here away from Joe, Addison, and Emerson, it is much more difficult to imagine taking Ellody home in her condition.

Pray for her lungs to be cleared of the mucus and for her to be breathing on her own. It is also important that she continues to nurse well without aspirating any of the meal back up.

Thank you everyone and I will update again soon,

Melissa

PS-If anyone is interested in visiting, that would be great. The visit would really be more for me, as contact with the baby would not be encouraged. But, I sure am up for company!

Ellody Hope, Update I

I hope this blog finds all of you well. Some of you are aware of the situation, but I thought I would update everyone. Please feel free to forward this message to anyone whom you feel will pray for our little girl.

Ellody (6 weeks old) started the week with a cough that I'm certain came from her 2 older sisters who just cannot get enough of her! Anyway, the cough persisted and by Wednesday night, she was working very hard to breathe. Joe and I debated bringing her into the ER Thursday around 4 am, but I made the decision to wait it out until the later morning to call/take her into the pediatrician.

I made the call at 7:30 Thurs. morning to the answering service of my ped. She IMMEDIATELY called back telling me not to wait another minute and to take her right to CHOP (Children's Hospital of Penn.) or Dupont (which is in Delaware). With a frantic call to my mom to come right away to be with the girls and throwing random things into a diaper bag for the baby, I was out the door within an hour and on my way to CHOP.

I entered through the ER and they took her right back and listed her as "critical." She was immediately given a rescue breathing treatment which did nothing for her. They gave her another one shortly after with different medicine which helped a tiny bit, but not enough. So, she was admitted.

After a battery of tests, it was determined that she has a severe case of RSV. RSV is a respiratory virus that presents as a bad cold in older kids/adults but is very dangerous for newborns. There is no treatment for RSV, they just treat the symptoms.

Ellody was being suctioned (small tubes inserted into her nose and down her throat) every 1-2 hours and receiving chest physical therapy as well. While difficult to watch for a mom this treatment has been working well, especially since it has allowed her to nurse more comfortably and not aspirate.

She did well all day Thursday, but the nights have been rough. She had to be put on constant oxygen early Friday morning. She remains on the steady oxygen. They have tried weaning her off of that, but that did not go well and they actually had to increase it.

So, here we sit...Saturday morning. Last night was not good. She had 3 episodes in which her heart rate dropped significantly which had everyone in a panic and a nursing session that was a nightmare! Not sure what that was about, but she is doing better now.

I have already been told this morning that we will not be going home today.

Specific Prayer:

*that Ellody continues to remain fever-free (a fever would mean lots of painful tests for her and obviously an infection somewhere)

*that the nursing continues to go well and she is able to keep most of her meals in so that no IV is needed

*peace of mind for Joe and I as it is difficult to watch someone so tiny struggle so much

*wisdom for the staff here at CHOP (this place is absolutely incredible and I am so thankful God has us here...they are the BEST)

*comfort for Addison and Emerson

Joe did bring them to the hospital last night so that I could go down and eat dinner with them. But, obviously, they cannot come up here.

*SLEEP!!!

I will do my best to keep you all posted.

Love,

Melissa