Easter is all about unconditional love and particularly grace; that unmerited favor that is extended to us by God through His Son Jesus Christ. Though we are sinners, Jesus paid for our sins by his death on the cross. The Gospel of Luke describes how even in extreme pain and dire circumstances, Jesus extended grace to the Roman soldiers who were crucifying and mocking Him, when he pleads, “…Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing…”

Later, one of the criminals hanging next to Him comes to the realization that Jesus is the Messiah, and asks for forgiveness by saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Jesus took the burden of our sins in his sacrificial death on the cross

Horatio Spafford wrote of this act in the song, “It Is Well With My Soul.” Spafford, a highly successful lawyer in Chicago, must have felt like Job after the death of his son, loss of all of his real estate investments in the Great Chicago fire and later the tragic deaths of his three daughters when their ship sank on its way to Europe. Fortunately his wife survived that horrific accident.  He penned these words as he made his way to her.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

I trust that I am not alone when I say that my actions, at times, were and are less than perfect, sinful in nature, and perhaps comparable to those of the Roman soldiers or the other criminal on the third cross.

It is this chapter in Luke and these verses in particular that allow me to feel God’s unconditional love which grants me grace and mercy, and gives me salvation through my faith. These verses had a real impact on my life, especially on my work as an educator. My walk with God got stronger as a middle school assistant principal when I realized that I needed help from a higher power because the daily grind of discipline was wearing and lingered over me like a negative overcast cloud.

So after looking at our suspension and expulsion data after my first year, it became obvious that there were gaps in our discipline policies and practices, and that I and our school needed a new outlook on discipline. These two verses were the catalyst for my new outlook, including having a more intentional focus to build positive relationships with my worse-behaving students and learning to be their advocate.

I realized that in my imperfect ways as a child, many adults had extended grace to me while I was a student at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, and that I needed to extend that same grace to my students. For like me, many were still learning, developing their identities and testing their boundaries, so they may not have known what they were doing nor had they developed the complete self-control to make the best choices 100 percent of the time.

As I do my job of handing out consequences to undisciplined students, I try to serve as their advocate, because in some cases I am their last school advocate before expulsion.

I really try to understand why the students behaved as such, and try to clearly identify their needs so we can help them through a tough situation or address a behavioral deficit.

This new perspective all started with understanding God’s amazing grace for us and how I can extend that grace to others as a parent, and especially as an educator to our keiki who need it the most.

Our Hawaiian cultural values also call us to keep our children close and not cast them aside because of who they are at this moment in their lives. Let us be encouraged by this ʻōlelo no‘eau:

Ka ‘ike a ka makua, he hei na ke keiki – The knowledge of the parent is (unconsciously) absorbed by the child.

Be Christ-like. If in the most dire of situations, He can extend grace, then we, as parents, educators and adults who have a love for our keiki can as well. Let’s find ways to guide and teach our children in the right ways so that they will learn and be able to pass that blessing along to others.

In this Lenten season, I hope you are able to feel God’s amazing grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love, and that you can pass that along to those you interact with on a daily basis.

Sing along with the Lent week 1 hīmeni

KS Maui Religious Education Instructor Kanani Franco sings the hymn, “Maikaʻi Nō I loko Oʻu – It is Well with My Soul” as part of this week’s Lent devotional. She is accompanied by high school music teacher Dale Nitta. KS created Hawaiian-focused devotionals for use by KS students, families and others to celebrate the coming of Easter. Each includes scripture, student and staff messages, hīmeni and more. The devotionals will posted to the KS I Mua Newsroom every Friday leading up to Easter. See the devotionals as they post at http://www.ksbe.edu.

KS Maui Interim Po‘o Kula (Head of School) Kaleo Pahukula (right) shares his manaʻo on extending grace to others as part of this week's Lent devotional. KSM Kahu Kalani Wong (left) helped develop the Lent series.

KSK Kahu Kordell Kekoa, KSM Kahu Kalani Wong and KSH Kahu Kaunaloa Boshard developed the Lent series. View their intro to the devotionals in the video below.

KSM Religious Education Instructor Kanani Franco sings this week’s hymn accompanied by music teacher Dale Nitta. Sing along by viewing the video below.

KS Maui senior Rachel Hillen, a keiki kahu, shares her manaʻo on finding time to rest with God in this week’s Lent devotional.

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