A message to our graduates

Flashback of column written 5/24/06…

Graduation time has arrived once again, and all you graduates are about to step out into a new phase of your lives. After graduation, many things will be different. Common sense tells us there will be many new decisions to make, new choices to examine and new tests to face.

Graduation is something you have been preparing for during all the years of your school life. The question is, now that you are face to face with it, are you prepared for that big step in your life?

The beautiful mountains you see in your future look blue and filled with romance from a distance. As you leave your school and go out to climb those mountains, the true test lay before you.

The first test is about the decisions a graduate must make. Who will guide your life, and for whom will you live? May I encourage you to let Jesus take your wheel, and the mountains in the distance will be much easier to climb.

Often, a new job or further schooling, sometimes in a strange city, will be hard and you will want to give up and return home. You may be lonely for those at home but don’t give up. Just remember that if you have chosen to live for Christ, He will always walk with you. So spread your wings and prove you are a trustworthy person ready for responsibility.

After you graduate and leave your school, you will be separated from your schoolmates. As you make new friends in life, always remember the old adage; a person is known by the company they keep. Choose friends with good character, integrity and Christian principles.

As you leave the shelter and provisions of you parents’ home, you, in a sense, will be on your own in many ways. Once away from home, you will begin to appreciate more all they have done for you and provided for you. Your teachers will not seem so mean and out of touch when the knowledge they have passed along to you is put to use. Always be grateful to your parents and teachers.

May I give you three daily suggestions to help you succeed in your years after high school? Never allow a day to pass without taking time to pray. Be friendly to everyone you meet because you can never have too many friends. Never miss an opportunity to serve as service ranks high with your superiors.

Some of you graduates will be given the opportunity to lead in different areas in the future. Others will have the privilege to help and encourage those who lead.

It is only natural, as you go out in life to make a place for yourself in this world, to look after your own interests. No problem with that, but don’t do it at the expense of your neighbor.

Graduation does bring with it some privileges, but with privileges, come responsibility. Responsibility brings loyalty and courage. To earn the privileges of being on your own, you must have sincerity, perseverance and determination. Some people don’t have these qualities, so they drift from one position to another wondering why many of their friends are accomplishing much more in life than they are.

One of the greatest lessons you graduates, hopefully, learned during your school years is to look at others’ needs as well as yours, and to live to make this a better world rather than living for self alone.

Yes, graduation time has arrived once again, so as you prepare to step out into a new phase of your life let God guide your life. He will walk with you everywhere you go.

May I suggest that you, do not face the future with fear, rather face it boldly, courageously and joyously. Have faith in what the future holds for you, set your goals high and strive to exceed them all. This is my message to all graduates.

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