Children are
a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him… How joyful is the man whose
quiver is full of them! He will not be
put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.
Today is not a normal day at
all. Well, the last few weeks I have
shared more personal stuff in these devotions, more than normal. The same is true today, and I am thankful that
you keep reading (some of you do).
She turned 18 years old only a few
weeks ago, but this is the day that Rebecca will graduate from High
School. We have looked forward to this
day for this year and for so much longer than just the last 12 months or so. I do not intend to give you a run down, a
play by play or a historical account of Rebecca’s life in this post.
What I intend to do is talk about
the emotions that I feel and how God prepares each of us for times like
this. Again, these are personal, often
filled with opinion, yet I pray that some sense of encouragement or learning
may be passed on to others.
When the kids come along you cannot
help but be drawn to them. They are cute
and totally dependent on you. We spend
years helping our kids become self sufficient, but the less they depend on us,
their parents, the tougher it really is for all of us. Don’t get me wrong because I want Rebecca to
stand on her own and to be successful. I
also pray that I have taught her that we are stronger when we let others be
part of our lives.
She will walk across the graduation
stage tonight with hundreds of others in the class of 2015 from Bassett High
School. She has continually made us
proud of her accomplishments and her choices.
This is a great day.
She came in to the world, and I was
crying the minute it happened. And if
you see me at graduation or this weekend just look away because I may be crying
again. Tears of joy and pride for our
first-born. We will remember this day
for a long time. Just around the corner
of calendar time she will move on to the campus of Ferrum College beginning a
new phase of life. Not long after is so
much more. I will stop there because
this dad’s heart can only deal with so much at this time.
Family makes like better. Seeing our children succeed is an amazing
thing. Watching them begin to walk or
talk or drive or graduate is only part of what parenthood is about.
The days ahead are marked with all
kinds of opportunity, and I cannot wait to see how Rebecca, her classmates and
others make choices to lean on God and to impact this world we live in. This will be a great day, and I choose to
look through eyes of faith as a father and a fellow follower of Jesus.
Rebecca, I am so proud of you. Press on (but not too fast). I love you too!
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