Grad

It's graduation season.  Just this morning Josiah and I were at a graduation.  Kristen, Josiah's youngest sister, is now, very proudly, an alumna (that is the correct term for a singular female grad, I looked it up) of her high school.

Graduating is very exciting, but it also stirs up a lot of questions.  I know around the time of my grad, it seemed like every relative that I had would always ask me the same question over and over again:  "What are you going to do now?  What are your plans for the future?"

When you're an 18 year-old freshly out of high school it can be difficult to answer those questions.  And so much of your life is spent making plans and figuring out what you are going to do, that suddenly, before you know it, what you do becomes your identity.  What job you have, what games/sports you play, what hobbies/crafts you do, how clean your house is, all the things that we physically do become what other people see us as. 

Someone gave me some very encouraging words that I will never forget after my university graduation, when I was trying to figure out if the degree that I had was really what I wanted do be doing with my life.  He said,

"No piece of paper, whether it is a paycheck or a diploma, can ever define your true worth."

God created each person with a unique set of talents and a unique personality.  And we need to look to Him for our true worth.  He is the one guiding us into the future because He already knows what will happen and He cares about us. 

Kristen's grad class' quote was, "We don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future."

We need to keep our lives in perspective.  We may have a lot of decisions to make, but God will always be there to guide us through those.  Even if we make a "mistake," God can still use that time to help us learn something valuable about ourselves and about Him.

I wanted to leave you with an excerpt from Dr. Seuss' book, Oh The Places You'll Go, keeping in mind Phillipians 4:13, "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

"But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are. 

"You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

"And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

"Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!"