Graduated!

I’ve GRADUATED!  It’s kind of strange.  A chapter of my life has ended and I now stand waiting for God to show me what the next step is.  I feel very grateful for the last 12 years in which I could grow and learn. 

 I want to especially thank Mom and Dad for all the years of time and effort they spent in order to give me the best possible education.  Thank you Mom for all those summer weeks that you spent planning and preparing for the school year.  And thank you for the years of school days that you spent teaching me and helping me learn new things.  Thanks for your patience in correcting mistakes and for encouraging me to continue when I was discouraged. 

Thank you Dad for the Physics background.  Thanks for taking the time to discuss and talk through the difficult concepts.  Thanks for all the hours and hours you put in to help me learn Japanese.  Thanks for the outdoors experience and all the times you joined us for P.E.  Thanks for teaching me how to play sports and for building such a fantastic play area in our yard.  Thanks Mom and Dad for being amazing parents and for all your wise counsel throughout the last 18 years. 

I want to say thank you to all my amazing siblings for being awesome study partners.  Thanks for challenging me to take on new areas, to continue to grow and learn.  Thanks you Josh, Jas, Jeremy, and Kristi for all the help and instruction you’ve given me throughout the years.  Thanks for all the times when you helped me solve a difficult math problem, or explained how electronics worked, helped with me to improve writing skills, or generally encouraged me to learn and grow in as many areas as possible.  Thank you Tiffy and Jenny for challenging me to be a better older sister, for giving me the opportunity to give into your lives, for allowing me to be part of your growing learning experiences.  Thanks for being awesome study partners during the last three years.  We’ve had lots of fun together whether it was playing at the park, thinking of creative writing assignments, studying history, reading aloud with crazy accents, or just trying to concentrate in the same room.  It’s been great!

               Thanks for all the love and support you all have poured into me in order for me to be where I am today.  Thank you!

            Now I’m facing the beginning of a new chapter in my life.  It's kind of exciting to be facing new possibilities.  I don’t know where God’s leading me yet, but I know it’s going to be exactly what I need.  I’m going to take a gap year, which is exciting because it leaves my time open in order to do what God would have for me next.  I’m totally open to going to college, in fact I probably would like to at some point in time, but I don’t think that is the next step for me.  I need to find out about myself more, become grounded in my identity in Christ, and get direction from Him.

            So I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, but I’m excited to be walking this path, following God’s lead.  I appreciate all your prayers.  Pray that God’s will for this next year would be clear to me and the family.  Pray that the right doors open and the wrong doors close.  Pray that I could have the wisdom to differentiate between my ideas and God’s desires for my life.  And pray that I'd have the courage to go through the door that the Lord opens up.

            It’s exciting to have opportunities and options in front of me.  I feel that this is a time of repositioning so that I am ready when God wants to move through me.  I want to learn to enjoy each day as I start this new season of my lives journey.

 

I appreciate your support and prayers as I enter this new season of my life!  God bless!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take.