In God We Trust

By Crystal Drake

In 2018, the Florida legislature passed a law that requires all public schools to display our national motto.  I recently visited a high school that has complied and posted the picture on my social media.  So far, I have received 225 positive responses and 14 shares.  This blog is a response to the popularity of that post.  (225 means viral in my little world!) 

This motto may not be posted on our schools (yet), but trusting God has always been in the forefront of American schools.  Even when schools were directed to stop having institutionalized morning prayers – parents, students, maintenance staff, custodial staff, teachers’ aides, substitutes, lunchroom workers, counselors, secretaries, teachers, and administrators were all still praying on public school campuses.  Kids were praying in the lunchroom before eating, students were reading their Bibles during mandatory silent reading times, students were studying the Bible during school sponsored Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings or during World History classes, taking school buses to FCA events where prayer is freely demonstrated on public school campuses through football camps to abstinence education. Students have been taking public school buses to secular movie theaters to watch Christian movies. Teachers have walked the rows in their classrooms and prayed over the environment and stopped at certain desks where their most challenging students sat and offered up specific prayers for that child.  I even know teachers who have lead students to Christ during lunch.  I know teachers who give up their free lunch period, weeknights and weekends to hold FCA meetings and answer questions that students are afraid to ask their parents. And I’m talking about public schools!

Please, don’t dismay because you haven’t seen these words in your kids’ school yet – those of us in education, have ALWAYS had trust in God, otherwise, it would be almost impossible to even make it through one week.  We have known that ‘with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26).  That’s why we are still in there fighting for children, even the ones that make us want to pull our hair out!  I can’t wait for my own district to officially post those words on the walls of our schools, but it’s really a declaration to those on the outside, because those of us in the trenches have always known its truth.

I want to give you some ideas of how you can help.  1 – If you are against abortion, find some young preteen girls and boys to minister to through an abstinence program.  Support it financially or give a presentation about your life and the mistakes you made.  Don’t just say abortion is horrific – do something tangible to keep young girls from getting pregnant in the first place.  Your local FCA chapter supports these programs.  2 – If you think school violence is on the rise (and if you don’t, you haven’t been watching the news), volunteer to work on improving the mental health services in your area.  I recently learned that the shooter in Parkland, FL had been referred to mental health services at the age of three!  There are many hurting children walking the halls of our schools every day that need help and encouragement.  Try mentoring one.  3 – Work on federal and state legislation that reprimands schools for disciplining students with disabilities, which makes schools reluctant to punish inappropriate behavior or remove students who may be a danger to themselves or others.  4 – Work on legislation that makes identifying a student as a bully, result in a mountain of paperwork for administrators, which results in overworked, stressed out people, being reluctant to identify them.  5 – Pray for everyone in education from D.C. down to the local schools to realize how vitally important their role is in improving our education system.  You’d better believe ‘In God We Trust!”