A Letter to the Newly Graduated

BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:

"It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed."

~Deuteronomy 31:8

Dear Graduates, Wow. You have just completed an amazing chapter of your life, and I know that right now you feel on top of the world and are ready for the challenges that lay ahead. So let me first say congratulations for all your hard work and dedication to growing up in the last eighteen years. Know that God is especially proud of all your accomplishments and is only excited to see what you will do next to show His love in this world. But this is where I have to be brutally honest: many of our graduates this year will not continue to follow our Lord in the coming years of higher education. Many of you will stop seeing a reason to go to Church on Sundays because it seems like no one else is, and many will stop praying because their problems will become bigger - so why pray to a God who gives you bigger issues at a new time in your life? Your lives in the next four years will turn your worlds upside down and inside out; everything you thought you wanted will change, everything you thought you needed will become dependent on your financial situation, and it's going to be super hard to adjust. You're going to have more homework, more studying, more peer pressure, and more reasons to breakdown. But here's one thing that won't change: God. God's love for you won't change, His patience won't change, His kindness won't change, and He most certainly isn't going to stop fighting for your soul to get to Heaven. What many of you are unaware of right now is that the one person who has stood by you no matter what life brought your way will never stop being there. Being a college kid who has their own life away from their family doesn't mean that He chooses to leave you alone too. The truth is that He is there for each and every one of us, but we have no courage to face Him in our new-found freedom. Graduates, now is the time when you will need God at your side, not out of your mind. Now is the time to take responsibility over your soul and establish a better relationship with God. Now is the time to praise Him for the last eighteen years of your life, and to thank Him for giving you a fresh start in a new place. You're going to love your new lives and the new directions you'll travel in. Just don't let God sit in the back corner of your life; allow Him to make you stronger, give you faith, and comfort you when you need it most. He is your biggest supporter, and He is still excited to see how you bring His love into the world. So go and make disciples of all nations, graduates. It's your time to shine! Your Laughing Sister, Callahan

Check out the CHANGE and REGRET quotes pages for more inspiration!