{"id":4772,"date":"2015-05-24T08:30:17","date_gmt":"2015-05-24T12:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4772"},"modified":"2015-05-24T08:30:17","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T12:30:17","slug":"note-to-the-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4772","title":{"rendered":"note to the graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"unsplash_525d7892901ff_1\"<\/a>I\u2019ve thought about this post many times. I\u2019ve known what I wish to convey, but I\u2019m still not certain exactly how to say it. It\u2019s too big… too important… too significant a moment. (It\u2019s so significant I may at least pen\u00a0a second post!)<\/em> It\u2019s one of those precious moments in life that you want to embrace, hold so tight, and never let go; you are keenly aware that it will never come again.<\/p>\n

My oldest son, Jake, finished high school last week. In a few days, he will don the cap and gown with his 350 some classmates and proudly walk with every bit of pomp and circumstance. I want to embrace the significance of that day. There are some things first I wish to say… to Jake… to each of our graduates…<\/p>\n

Be thankful…<\/em><\/strong> Just getting to this day is an accomplishment. You had to work hard. Not everyday was your best day, but you are still here. Look around. Give thanks.<\/p>\n

Be proud…<\/em><\/strong> You should be. Remember that pride and arrogance are not the same thing; don\u2019t make that mistake. It\u2019s ok to be proud as long as your pride doesn\u2019t prompt a looking down on other people.<\/p>\n

Be humble…<\/em> <\/strong>Humility is not weakness; it doesn\u2019t mean being downtrodden or stepped on. Humility simply means that you recognize you always have more to learn and don\u2019t have life all figured out. You don\u2019t. Enjoy and embrace it anyway and always.<\/p>\n

Trust in the Lord…<\/em> <\/strong>Commit to God whatever you wish to do, and he will establish your plans. He will direct your steps. Sometimes those steps will be far different than you ever desired. But if you seek him first, he will bless and care for you.<\/p>\n

See life\u2019s hardships as an opportunity to grow…<\/em><\/strong> I think one of society\u2019s collective, biggest mistakes is that we work so hard to avoid any potentially painful scenario. I get it; pain hurts. But the reality is that the thorns and hardships in my life have taught me invaluable lessons. Embrace those lessons; don\u2019t run from — or numb — reality. Focus more on the sufficiency of God\u2019s grace than on the removal of the painful thorn.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get too caught up in this world…<\/em> <\/strong>Don\u2019t allow this world to determine what is good and true and right. Don\u2019t allow human standards to determine morality. People are imperfect. Look for something better and more. Look for what lasts.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be dismayed…<\/strong><\/em> Precisely because people are imperfect, it\u2019s easy to get disillusioned. Friends, someday, sometime, someone you love will hurt and disappoint you. It\u2019s not because you misjudged them or they\u2019re not who they say they are. Remember: we, too, are imperfect; we, too, will hurt others. Love through it. Learn that perseverance and forgiveness are vital to wisdom.<\/p>\n

Remember your roots…<\/em><\/strong> While you are about to jet off and accomplish new, great things, never forget from where you came. Your history will be something God uses to promote the humility and thankfulness that will serve you well your entire life.<\/p>\n

Love other people well…<\/em><\/strong> People who love God know the best way to reflect\u00a0him is to love who he created. That means loving in sickness and health and for better or worse. That means loving when it isn\u2019t easy or convenient. That means not taking wrongs so personally but loving boldly enough to help steer others away from those wrongs. Keep no record of any offense. Simply love others well. Always.<\/p>\n

Give others — and yourself — generous grace…<\/em> <\/strong>The withholding of grace will only hurt the beholder. Be generous. This is a key to wisdom. We will each make mistakes. We might make several still today. So give yourself grace. Laugh. Grace gives us space to grow.<\/p>\n

Be confident…<\/em> <\/strong>And from here you now go. Whatever\u2019s next. It looks different for each of you, and that\u2019s ok. Be of good courage. Know you can do this.<\/p>\n

As a parent, I know I haven\u2019t always conveyed everything as well as I\u2019ve wanted to my sons. I\u2019ve made many errors. I also had never done this parenting thing before. So let me say three more things before another round of \u201cPomp and Circumstance\u201d begins to play… We love you. We believe in you. And we\u2019re so excited for what\u2019s next!<\/p>\n

Blessings… to the Class of 2015. We are proud of you.<\/p>\n

Respectfully… indeed…<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n

(Note:\u00a0\u00a0grad post #2 coming soon…) <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve thought about this post many times. I\u2019ve known what I wish to convey, but I\u2019m still not certain exactly how to say it. It\u2019s too big… too important… too significant a moment. (It\u2019s so significant I may at least pen\u00a0a second post!) It\u2019s one of those precious moments in life that you want to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “note to the graduate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[519],"class_list":["post-4772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","tag-class-of-2015"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4772"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4781,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4772\/revisions\/4781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}