Saturday, June 02, 2007

The Starting Line


I am spending the weekend in Rockford, Ill. to see Hannah Wright, Kris Bright and Rory Shaw graduate from Rockford Master's Commission (RMC). Last night they kicked off the weekend with an "impact nite" service. It was really cool! The worship was INCREDIBLE! They didn't have anyone give a message, exactly, they had voted and one person from each class stood up and gave a testimony or word of encouragement to their class.

After all three of them had shared, Pastor Jeremy DeWeerdt shared from 2 Samuel 23 about Shamah and his bean patch. As he was sharing he talked a little bit about the graduation service. For the RMC graduation they put a line across the stage for the students to cross as they are recognized. Now like me you are thinking it must a finish line because they have completed the program...but in actuality they call it the starting line.

During this time of graduations and graduation parties, it is important that we remember that it is not about finishing. It's about starting, that is why they call it "Commencement," meaning it is time to "commence or start."

If you are reading this and you are a graduate, don't spend all your time looking at what you are leaving behind in H.S. Think about this: You have completed the training, the preperation, now it is time to start...that may mean more training in college or the beginning of a career...but when you walk that line on graduation day...it is not a finish line...it is a starting line!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's really good advice : )

Much love,
Kelly