What I Said ...

The Baccalaureate was this afternoon. As I posted earlier this week, I was asked to do the welcome, pray the opening and closing prayers. So I had just a few precious moments to say something of an impact. This is a time of special memories for the students and the parents and grandparents who were in attendance. This is an event that precedes the actual graduation ceremony by just a short period of time.

I reminded the graduates that it was not that long ago they imagined the day of getting their driver's license, of becoming Seniors and of graduating High School. I invited them to once again imagine, this time to imagine the future, a future of hope. I then shared Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future." Then I told them to remember that the God who created them had plans for them. That these plans were for their future, a future of hope and that they needed to move forward with this knowledge and imagine their hopeful future.

There you have it, a minute or two and hopefully some of them will remember the thoughts in the future. That at some point when they begin to doubt the future and whether or not they can contribute anything, they will recall that God created them for a purpose and pursue it.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. It was a positive experience and I had the opportunity to speak with a few different family members after the event.