What Are Your Plans for the Future?

Meet my son Christian. He is 18. As you can see, he just graduated from high school. If you have really good vision you might be able to spot the Honors seal on his diploma. Yes, I’m a proud mom. In the fall he starts college at a university that is practically in our back yard.

So now Christian is hearing those popular “graduate” questions:
“What do you plan to study?”
“Have you chosen a major yet?”
“What do you want to do, as far as a career?”

Even with an honors diploma, scholarships, and admission to a university Christian honestly doesn’t know what he wants to do or even major in. You’d think that, as a parent, I would be upset by this. But I’m not. Here is why.

I know that Christian is smart, has a variety of interests, and works hard. Obviously he will be successful in whatever he chooses.

I know that many kids who do have a major declared will most likely change it.

When I was 18 I thought I knew what I wanted. I changed my major to something more practical half-way through college (from Theater to Early Childhood Studies). Now I’m doing something completely different. So much for knowing my ideal career path right out of high school.

I understand that it takes awhile to see God’s plan. Christian is clearly searching for it, so I know he’ll find it.

Are you in the same boat? Did you rush off the graduation platform to a mob of friends and relatives wanting a list of your future goals? If you had to honestly answer, “I’m not sure,” don’t feel bad. Christian is an example that other smart, talented graduates don’t know either. But you can feel encouraged, knowing that God has an incredible plan for you.

Now you get to start the exciting process of finding out what it is.

So Proud!

On Tuesday my son Nathan graduated from kindergarten. As you can see from this picture he gave the valedictory address. Just kidding! Actually, every child read from a book that highlighted there year, what they learned, special events, and what they did each day. They sang inspirational songs like “First Grade, First Grade” to the tune of “New York, New York” (complete with kick line) and even threw their caps at the end of the ceremony. I sat back and marveled at how quickly the year had raced by, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before his dad and grandparents and I sat in an audience watching him graduate from high school. I tried not to get too caught up in the melancholy side. Instead I focused on how proud I was of my little scholar. That was my little boy up there, reading into a microphone (and very well, I might add), receiving a diploma, and moving on to a new grade. Some might say, “A kindergarten graduation? How ridiculous.” But hey, for 5 and 6-year-olds it’s a very big deal. They can read, count to 100, add and subtract a little, and write short sentences. How many of them could say that in August? They are officially in a “grade!” Our Nate the Great has a lot to be proud of and so do we.

Many of you are probably graduating this month. Let me just take this moment to encourage you to be proud of your accomplishments. You’ve made it through high school! Whether you got straight A’s or not you made it through and are ready to move on the next phase of God’s plan for you.

Oh, and whether they vocalize it or not, your parents have a lot to be proud of too. So maybe you can thank them for being part of the process of getting you to this point.

Happy Summer!
Jeanette