To Allison on your
graduation:
There is nothing more I
want for you this week than for you to feel celebrated. YOU DID IT!! Tonight,
you will have your diploma. A mere piece of paper, but oh, what it represents.
. . . hard work, stress, tough decisions, lifelong friendships, wonderful
teachers and mentors, so much learning, so much questioning, so much deciding
about what you believe and the kind of person you want to be . . .
You have navigated these
years so well. I know there have been times you wanted to give up. Times when
it seemed your hard work wasn’t going to pay off. Times when you wondered if it
was all worth it. I hope as you walk across that stage tonight when they call
your name that you will know, in the deepest places of your heart, that, yes,
it was all worth it. I hope you will hear in your heart the voices of God, His
angels, your family and friends, saying “Well done, sweet girl.”
I also know there have
been times when I have missed cues about how stressed you were, times when I
misjudged the importance of a given moment or decision, times when I was too
eager to jump in with my own opinion instead of just listening. Thank you for
the forgiveness and grace you have extended to me during those times. You have
been an example to me.
God has given me some
incredible gifts this past year as I have done my best to get ready to set you
free to soar . . . He has confirmed your
decision to attend Seattle Pacific in some amazing ways. He has assured me that
He has plans for me that will fill the void while you are away. He has reminded
me in so many moments to stop and take a mental picture – to record in my mind
and heart the gift that it is to be your Mom. Even this morning, when you were
leaving, and you said, “This is the last time I’ll be walking out the door to
go to school.” I stopped and thought about how many mornings there have been,
how many times I’ve said “have a good day”. What I want you to know is how very
grateful I am for every single one of those days.
God has also used His
Word, as He so often does, to remind me of how our lives have come full circle.
At some point, I think in
the last couple of years, Micah 6:8 has become your favorite Bible verse. “The
Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to act
justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” It was the theme verse for
your Jackson
Do you know that you
memorized this verse as a very young child? It was either Cubbies or Sparkies,
so you were no older than 6. I remember working on it with you. I was always
grateful that when you were given memory verses, there were always activities
and questions that helped you understand the verse. You would learn what words
like “just” and “mercy” meant. It wasn’t just about rote memory; it was about
getting to know your Father.
Sometime after memorizing
that verse, we were at the park for one of our Saturday play dates. You came
over to me at one point very distressed because the other kids you were playing
with were being mean to another child on the playground. You told the other
kids to stop being mean and they wouldn’t. The other child walked away and you
did too. You didn’t want to be a part of that. At such a young age, God gave
you the courage to do that.
Later that day, I told you
how proud I was of you for how you handled that situation. You said, “Mom, I
just kept thinking about that verse I memorized about doing what is right and loving
mercy.” I was speechless and so grateful that God was faithfully helping you
hide His word in your heart.
Why am I sharing this with
you now? Because it is an amazing example of how God works in our lives. Years
later, this verse is a driving, guiding force for you, a “mission statement”
for your life. We didn’t know back then what the future held, but He did. He
was developing in you a heart for the oppressed, the abused, the misunderstood.
And He has used EVERY circumstance of your life to shape you into who He wants
you to be, to equip you to accomplish the purposes He has for your life.
So as you complete this
chapter of your life, I want you to know, at the very deepest levels, that God
is always working, always active in your life. There will be times when you
can’t hear Him and you wonder why He is silent. There will be times when He
feels distant. There will be times when you can’t make sense of what is going
on.
But you have a history. A
history of knowing that He is always working, always redeeming, always loving.
That’s what we cling to during the dark times.
But now – now is a time to
celebrate, to be happy, and to be grateful. So, tonight when you walk across
that stage and receive that diploma, when you hug your friends and take
thousands of selfies and feel like the world belongs to you, may you know I am
celebrating too – celebrating who you are, who you will be, and the crazy,
amazing, life-changing, incredible gift it is to be your Mom. I will never stop
being grateful for that.
He is singing over you
today. That is true every day, but especially today, may you hear Him singing
over you.
You did it! We are so
proud. He is so proud. We celebrate you today!
