JANUARY

 

Dallas, Texas (February 2021)

THE CHRISTIAN NEW YEAR!

What will your New Year’s resolution be for 2025? It’s a question probably equal parts hated and anticipated. Some people look forward to this season every year as an opportunity to reflect and reset. Others feel guilt from the hauntings of failed resolutions past and would rather glide into the new year without disruption to the status quo. But how should the disciple of Christ treat this season?

Firstly, we must recognize that there is no distinctly Christian response to New Year’s. The Bible doesn’t explicitly address this occasion or the practice of making resolutions. So, whether you love this season or dread it, relax. With that said, however, I believe the season can afford the Christian with an unmatched opportunity for reflection.

Fundamental to the Christian outlook is the belief that our identity no longer rests on our own performance. To trust Christ is to finally give up on the futile pursuit of making ourselves. We are now “in Christ.” He is our “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). So then, while it’s true that resting here is a constant struggle, this life-altering truth must be our starting point when reflecting on life change and resolutions. Nothing I do or perform can move the needle because Christ has already taken me past the finish line. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

The Christian call, in other words, has nothing to do with achievement of something not yet gained and everything to do with living based on who we already are in Christ. Why do we “put to death what is earthly” in us and “put on . . . compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:5, 12)? Because we have died, and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. We resolve to live according to who we are in Christ. A Christian resolution must begin in Christ.

With that said, our journey in Christ celebrates new beginnings, and the new year provides a wonderful opportunity to reevaluate and form new habits that help us connect our lives with who we are in Christ. After all, to be “baptized into Christ Jesus” means that we have both died and been raised in him. We have died to the power of sin and have been raised so that “we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1-4). The Christian, therefore, has unique access to the Holy Spirit’s power. The same power that raised Christ from the dead now works in us to raise us daily from the soul deadening way of life we formerly pursued. Christ has made it possible for us to live no longer enslaved to sin but instead enslaved to righteousness.

So some reflection questions to help you maximize this season with Christ at the center.

The first set has to do with rooting my life in Christ: In 2024, have I lived with awareness of who I am in Christ? Or have I fallen into the trap of trying to prove myself to God or to myself or to the world? How would my life look differently if I was more deeply rooted in my identity in Christ? What new habits will help me live daily with this awareness? How can the church help me live with this awareness?

The second set has to do with living out of my identity in Christ: In 2024 what habits have I formed that prevent me from living out of who I am in Christ? How have I allowed sin to reign, leading me to obey its passions (Romans 6:12) and taking me backwards to who I used to be? What earthly practices do I need to put to death (Colossians 3:5)? What Christlike characteristics do I need to put on (Colossians 3:12)? What new habits will help me walk in newness of life? How can the church help me live in Christ?

Happy New Year, Cardinal Family!  May we all live 2025 with Christ at the center!

WHAT WERE WE UP TO IN DECEMBER?

• We met with 197 students individually during the short month of December.  Our seniors were the ones that popped in the most this month with our freshmen at a close second!  We are so happy that our students see us as support here at JPII!
• We presented in the class meetings our December Guidance on Stressbusters:  Unwrapping those Knots!.  Counselors shared with our students the Pomodoro Technique where one studies for 30 minutes, then takes a break for 5 by taking a quiet, physical, snack, social, reflective, spiritual, laughter, or musical break.  It's so effective for students' brains to sort and strengthen memories of what they've recently practiced or learned.  For high school students, it's important to set aside a few minutes of space for reflection, joy, and connection during a packed school day.

SCHEDULE CHANGES:

 All schedule changes have been completed!  Let's finish this spring semester strong!

CHOICE OF SUBJECT FOR 2025-26:

First of all, don't those dates sound crazy?  Time sure flies!  However, it is that time of year when we start talking to our students one-by-one about their credits, GPAs, future plans, and classes for next year.  Our academic departments are currently finishing up the 2025-26 Course Guide to reflect courses being offered, prerequisites, credits, etc.  Once that is completed, be on the lookout for an email to make an appointment with your counselor.  The plan is to visit with our current juniors at the end of January, our sophomores in February, and our freshmen in March.  Be thinking about your goals and how you want to challenge yourself in 2025-26!  See you soon!

AP UPDATES:

Stay tuned for more information!

Email Ms. Heslep if you have questions at beckyheslep@johnpauliihs.org

CALENDAR ITEMS:.

• Guidance Lesson
• Bullying & Cyberbullying:  What Does It Look Like in 2025?--January 28 and 29 in Theology classes
• We will be challenging our students with Ephesians 4:29-31 and to wear their  HOT PINK RIBBONS on their lanyards (provided by the club, Service With A Smile) as a reminder that there is no room in the Christian faith to belittle or abuse anyone.

• Check out the bulletin board by our office for resources from each guidance topic.

• COFFEE WITH THE COUNSELORS
• January 8 at 8:45 a.m., in the Athenaeum
• College, Career, & Military Readiness

                       

                              

• Save the dates!  See below!
• UPDATE--Our February Coffee is cancelled because of our JPII Athletes signing with their future colleges!

PARENT CORNER:

As we talk about bullying and cyberbullying with our students this month, this is a great support podcast for parents!

Parenting and the Bullied Child: Truth in Love 232

RESOURCES:

• Need to see your Counselor?  Email or stop by!  Our doors are always open!
• The Shade (Elijah's Story from 1 Kings 19)
• Calming Room in the Counseling Office (check-in with counselor first)
• Reset, Relax, Recharge, Refresh, Return!
• Fidgets, Aromatherapy, Sound Machine, Cozy Chairs/Blankets, Journal, Coloring Books, & More!
• 20 minute limit....and then return to class
• Children's TCHATT
• 6-8 FREE weekly therapist appointments scheduled during non-core periods during the school day (referral through your counselor)
• Mental Health Navigation Line
• 972-525-8181, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Helpline sourced through Grant Halliburton to assist families with finding therapists (based on need, insurance, etc.) in the DFW area
• Coffee Days (mom support group for mothers of young people with mental health and emotional health conditions, offering opportunities to share experiences, resources, and information.)
• granthalliburton.org for upcoming meetings
• Additional Community Resources

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the John Paul II Counseling Office is to provide a proactive, comprehensive, and developmentally appropriate program to address students' academic and career goals in addition to supporting their personal and social needs. This is accomplished through a partnership with parents/guardians, staff, and community members to enable all students to become successful, productive citizens and lifelong learners in a diverse and changing world.

VISION  STATEMENT

The John Paul II High School Counseling Office is guided by our commitment to provide a safe, nurturing environment where the entire learning community addresses the unique needs of students to ensure students reach their fullest potential and successfully manage their lives as healthy, responsible, competent and productive citizens who respect themselves and others. Collaborating with students, parents, faculty and staff, we will foster the development of the entire person – mental, spiritual, academic and social. School counselors believe that every student can succeed through the collaborative efforts of school, home, and community leading to responsible and productive citizenship in the 21st c

DECEMBER

 

PEACE ON EARTH!  GOOD WILL TO MEN!

Even as we approach Christmas, sometimes our world feels like a mess, our personal lives feel like a mess, or we're just a mess ourselves.

I’m reminded that God uses the difficult times in our lives to bring us and others back to Him. After all, isn’t Christmas all about “Peace on earth”?

One of my favorite stories about Christmas is a powerful account about personal tragedy and its unforgettable message. I remember the first time I read about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who wrote the poem which eventually became the hymn, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”  Longfellow’s context was also one of national division, the Civil War, as well as personal loss. His wife, Fannie, had died when her dress caught fire. Henry tried to put the fire out by smothering the flame with his own body, but it was too late. Then two years later his 18-year-old son Charley left home and signed up to serve in Lincoln’s Union Army.

On December 1, 1863, Longfellow was having dinner with his family when he received a war telegram stating his son Charley had been severely wounded in battle. Surgeons were concerned about paralysis, and they warned he would face a very long recovery.

A biographer sets the stage for the war taking place in Longfellow’s heart:

On Christmas Day, 1863, Longfellow—a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him.

He heard the bells that Christmas Day and the singing of "peace on earth" (Luke 2:14), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. The theme of listening recurred throughout the poem, eventually leading to confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair.

I pictured Longfellow wrestling with what he saw and felt and picking up a pen to craft a poem which would eventually become my favorite Christmas song:

I heard the bells on Christmas day 

Their old familiar carols play 

And mild and sweet their songs repeat 

Of peace on earth good will to men  (JOY)

And in despair I bowed my head 

There is no peace on earth I said 

For hate is strong and mocks the song 

Of peace on earth, good will to men (DESPAIR)

Then rang the bells, more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor does He sleep

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men (HOPE)

Then ringing singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day 

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime 

Of peace on earth, good will to men (PRAISE)

Even now, as I absorb the music and words, tears come to my eyes when I think about my Savior and how He came to give all of us broken human beings peace with God and “peace on earth.”
If you'd love to hear a beautiful rendition of this carol, LISTEN HERE!

WHAT WERE WE UP TO IN NOVEMBER?

• We met with 378 students individually during the month of November.  Our sophomores were the ones that popped in the most this month!  Way to go, Class of 2027!  We love that you see us as support here at JPII!
• We presented in 46 classrooms for our November Guidance on College, Career, & Military Readiness.  Students were able to look at their strengths, learning styles, and career interests.  They can then connect those to colleges that would best support them.  Ask them to show you their results!  It would be a fun dinner table conversation!  Seniors met with Mr. Saloma to finalize their college applications, scholarships, and other post-secondary plans.  Our Cardinals are ready for their futures!

SCHEDULE CHANGES:

 If students would like to request a schedule change for the spring semester, they will pick up those forms from their current teacher starting December 2.  In order to complete the forms, students must have attended tutorials, have no 0s in the gradebook, and parents need to conference with the teacher.  Once all the signatures are obtained on the form, students will turn in to their counselor by December 17.

AP UPDATES:

Stay tuned for more information!

Email Ms. Heslep if you have questions at beckyheslep@johnpauliihs.org

CALENDAR ITEMS:.

• Guidance Lesson
• Stress During the Holidays--December 3 (9th/10th) and 10 (11th/12th) during Class Meetings 
• The Counselors will be throwing our Stressbusters Week Party again during the week of December 9 through 13!  Come join us by the Senior Hall Stairwell for some fun stressbusting activities....and we hear we'll be getting a surprise visitor on Friday!

• Check out the bulletin board by our office for resources from each guidance topic.

• COFFEE WITH THE COUNSELORS
• December 4 at 8:45 a.m., in the Athenaeum
• Teens and Stress

                              

• Save the dates!  See below!
• UPDATE--Our February Coffee is cancelled because of our JPII Athletes signing with their future colleges!

PARENT CORNER:

10 Things to Say to a Teen Who’s Stressed Out:

1. I love you. The first thing is because it’s the most important thing. There’s a difference between classic cliché, and this is classic because it’s the foundation for everything else worth saying. I’m saying it even though I hope you know it’s true without being told. I’m saying it even though you might give me an eye-roll in return.

2. Take a deep breath. Slow breath in, slow breath out. Repeat. You might have to fight yourself to do what feels like nothing when what you want to do is something, but the point is to hit the pause button and reset your racing mind and emotions so you can fix the problem, not feed it.

3. I’m already proud of you. How I feel about you does not hinge on how this test or this paper or this project or this semester or this game or this application or this interview or this audition or this try-out turns out. Entirely apart from any of this, I’m proud of who you are and of who you’re becoming. I’m proud of what you’ve already done and of the effort you’ve put into the doing.

4. This is not your whole story. Whatever is going on right now is not your entire life right now. And it is not all there ever will be to your life. This is part of your reality, but it is not all of it. There’s more to today and more to the future than this.

5. How you feel at this moment is not how you’re going to feel forever. You’re not going to be stuck here for the rest of your life. This is not your new normal. I know getting to the other side might seem like it’s taking an eternity, but at some point (probably sooner than you’re expecting), you’ll suddenly realize you’re looking back on this instead of staring straight at it.

6. Remember how you’ve gotten through tough times before. This isn’t the first time you’ve felt this way, and it won’t be the last. But so far, you have a 100% success rate of surviving things you thought you’d never get through. Don’t let this current struggle make you forget your past successes.

7. Just do the next thing. The next right thing you can figure out to do. The next thing that needs to be done. The next thing that seems wise and productive. The next one thing, not the next ten things.

8. Is there anything I can do to help? I know you have to figure this out on your own. I know I can’t do it for you. I know it’s not my job to fix it. But if there’s something I can and should do to help you get from here to there, tell me, and I’ll try to do it.

9. I’m here for you. I’m not going to check out of this situation. I’m thinking about you and thinking about it and thinking about you thinking about it pretty much all the time. Life is full of changes, but there are some constants you can count on, and my love and support are two of them.

10. How about some ice cream? Or pizza? Or pizza and ice cream? They’re called comfort foods for a reason.

RESOURCES:

• Need to see your Counselor?  Email or stop by!  Our doors are always open!
• The Shade (Elijah's Story from 1 Kings 19)
• Calming Room in the Counseling Office (check-in with counselor first)
• Reset, Relax, Recharge, Refresh, Return!
• Fidgets, Aromatherapy, Sound Machine, Cozy Chairs/Blankets, Journal, Coloring Books, & More!
• 20 minute limit....and then return to class
• Children's TCHATT
• 6-8 FREE weekly therapist appointments scheduled during non-core periods during the school day (referral through your counselor)
• Mental Health Navigation Line
• 972-525-8181, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Helpline sourced through Grant Halliburton to assist families with finding therapists (based on need, insurance, etc.) in the DFW area
• Coffee Days (mom support group for mothers of young people with mental health and emotional health conditions, offering opportunities to share experiences, resources, and information.)
• granthalliburton.org for upcoming meetings
• Additional Community Resources

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the John Paul II Counseling Office is to provide a proactive, comprehensive, and developmentally appropriate program to address students' academic and career goals in addition to supporting their personal and social needs. This is accomplished through a partnership with parents/guardians, staff, and community members to enable all students to become successful, productive citizens and lifelong learners in a diverse and changing world.

VISION  STATEMENT

The John Paul II High School Counseling Office is guided by our commitment to provide a safe, nurturing environment where the entire learning community addresses the unique needs of students to ensure students reach their fullest potential and successfully manage their lives as healthy, responsible, competent and productive citizens who respect themselves and others. Collaborating with students, parents, faculty and staff, we will foster the development of the entire person – mental, spiritual, academic and social. School counselors believe that every student can succeed through the collaborative efforts of school, home, and community leading to responsible and productive citizenship in the 21st c