You may have already watched the tassels move, taken the pictures for the scrapbook and had a melancholy moment. Whether you have children graduating from preschool, high school or college, or just shopped for cards or gifts for friends and family, you know the transition associated with walking down the aisle in cap and gown.
It's a milestone, a step toward the future, and a reason to pack the extra tissue for mom. This year my youngest son is graduating from preschool. (But he will attend another preschool next year, so not so many tears.)
However, there are ten high school graduates in my youth group this year - over half my kids! Not only is it very emotional for me to see them move on to college after ministering to them for half their lives, but it's been stressful trying to plan a celebration and come up with gifts and put together their lives in a Power Point presentation.
I will miss most of them very much. I regret that there are others I don't know well enough to miss very much. As I pray for their future endeavors and do what I can to help them with their transitions, I wonder how many of them will look back. Sure, they will glance behind and remember the fun times, but will any turn around and pine for what they leave behind?
My hope is that they run into the future with their arms outstretched and their eyes wide open; that they remember to pray for guidance and listen for that still, small voice when it comes; that they are bold in their faith and cautious in their decisions. My hope for them is the same as my hope for all of us when we graduate to another stage in life - that our path leads us and others closer to the Lord.
"The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you." -- Isaiah 26:7-9