The Week Ahead Weekly Updates and Communication for Parents

Thank you to everyone who joined in with praying for BCS last weekend, the family prayer submissions have been hugley encouraging! Please continue to pray for BCS especially the items listed below. Dedicated time praying which spans whole hours is great, but the Lord hears our "arrow" prayers, 5mins here, 5 mins there...

You can still send in prayers to prayer@bxs.org.uk at anytime, please put at the bottom if you're happy for us to use your message on The Week Ahead along with your name and any attached images.

We are so blessed that our community is standing in prayer with us and thanking, praising and requesting from our Father God in Heaven.

Blessings,

• Government change of heart about financial situation
• Our Families struggling to afford fees and who make sacrifices to pay
• Staff who are making sacrifices and could earn much more elsewhere
• Our building plans - currently paused due to financial situation
• Christian education in the UK - many schools are struggling right now
• New families deciding whether to join us

There are so many reasons to be thankful as well...

• Great Christian staff, Committed to our school and working for sacrificial salaries
• Opportunities to pray and share faith
  Visiting speakers - who give willingly of time and experience
• Flourishing status with Best Christian Workplaces
• IQM Award
• Beautiful classes
• A waiting list for some parts of school
• A thriving nursery
• Our AP meeting needs of many children who would struggle in mainstream
• Our lovely new Room 11 and 12
• Student leaders
• Student prayer
• Bursary donors
• Generous community
• Governing body walking alongside Jane
• A student support team
• Supportive churches

I've been reflecting a lot on prayer recently and how it connects us to God by revealing the deepest cries of our hearts. Prayer is a deeply personal practice, as unique as we all are, with no right or wrong way to do it. Sometimes we may want loud & at other times we want quiet. Sometimes we struggle for the right words. So I love the idea of these simple prayers and wondered if others may find them useful as we continue to pray for BCS.

"Breath Prayer is an ancient form of prayer and it is easily adaptable. Simply choose one or two lines to meditate on and inhale and then exhale through them. It really is that simple & can be prayed anywhere without any special rituals but you may like to find a quiet corner for a few minutes." Sarah Bessey

The idea is that you just pick one of the pairs that jumps out to you, take a deep breath in with the first line, then breathe out with the second. It can be repeated a few times.

Here are some examples, written by Sarah, which I thought were relevant to us praying for school & finances:

Inhale: You give us peace,
Exhale: My heart is not troubled.

Inhale: I will not despair,
Exhale: Hope is my daily choice.

Inhale: Your love is steadfast,
Exhale: You are our comfort and our hope.

Inhale: You are good,
Exhale: You are here.

Inhale: I will not surrender,
Exhale: I will rise to this day.

Inhale: This is not the end,
Exhale: You are our reliable hope.

Inhale: All will be well,
Exhale: and all manner of things shall be well.
(from Julian of Norwich)

Inhale: Your yoke is easy,
Exhale: and your burden is light.

Inhale: Draw near in our sorrow,
Exhale: with Your promise and faithfulness.

Inhale: I release despair,
Exhale: I embrace joy and trust.

Inhale: We are not invisible to you,
Exhale: You are the God who sees.