Finally Graduating...

the class of 2008 has FINALLY graduated.

i'm totally exhausted...a little relieved...and a little sad.

but, i'll have to say first that it wasn't an awful year...note that "awful" ranks along the lines of maggot-infested pustules. man oh man...this crew gave us all a run for our money.

the cool thing...i hope they'll realize some day...was that their commencement had a huge message vein weaving it's way through. all of us...referred to the same desire that god had for them...to live a "with-god" life. when i was praying about it, the words i kept hearing to share with them were to "start happening to the battle" rather than just let the battle happen to them. so i coupled that with living a life of honor...kneeling before our king and letting him stand us up under his hand. now that's real living...beyond our wildest dreams for abundance. the ironic thing about humbling ourselves is that the choice to offer our lives to him is the only way to become most fully human. to not is to spend our lives as shadows of what we could have been. it's giving god the wheel...as brian said...so that he can give it back to you. amazing. i really pray their hearts will be open to that as life throws it's curve balls.

but focusing on the challenges is not going to be my way to remember them. wow...a few really made some amazing strides in the last months even, and for them i'm so very excited. deep realizations that will leave a heart-mark, i'm sure.

take this guy...just about the sweetest kid in the world. life has not been a bed of roses for this one. his father abandoned him and his family when he was very little. his mom then raised them on her own...with total leaning on god for survival. and then she passed away a few years ago. my cousins took him in a couple years ago so he could go to school with his "school family". and you know what he told me the other day???...not what you'd expect from someone with so many losses...he told me that he's so aware of how god has rescued him over the years. (students teach their teachers so much sometimes....)

so...i've got some huge hopes for this crew. some for major life lessons to come quickly...others to find more and more of what they've already been discovering.

as for me...i'm taking a vacation!