Congratulations on your Graduation!

You are probably being flooded with advice, quotes, and well wishes. So I apologize in advance for adding my two cents worth.

I’ll start with Dr. Seuss. I think Dr. Seuss was an amazing man. Not only was he a great writer and super creative, but he also planted seeds of wisdom into young minds. He taught us to try new things in Green Eggs and Ham, to take care of the environment in The Lorax, about how important it is to make good decisions and choices in Oh, the Places You’ll Go, and so much more.

Steve Jobs was an amazing entrepreneur. He was given up for adoption as an infant without a name and was a college dropout. He didn’t let the challenges and obstacles in his life deter him. We have him to thank for much of the technology we have today. I’m not saying don’t go to college. I believe college is important, and if given the opportunity a person should go. Not everyone who drops out of college is successful. What made Steve Jobs special is he had dreams and a vision and worked to make those dreams a reality. Here are a few of my favorite Steve Jobs quotes:

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life”

“When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

Here is a poem by Bonnie Mohr:

Living Life

Life is not a race – but indeed a journey. Be Honest. Work Hard. Be Choosy. Say ‘thank you’, ‘I love you’, and “great job’ to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you’ve been given, it is not accidental ~ search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself ~ Plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you’ve been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment.

The bald eagle is majestic and beautiful. You may have heard that they mate for life. When an eagle finds a mate it takes a nose dive toward the earth. If the potential mate dives down, grabs it by the talons, and pulls it upward, the two are mates for life. When an eagle is sick or injured, it will fly to the highest place possible. It then lays spread out and allows the sun to draw out the toxins until it is healed. There are three lessons to be learned here.

• True love is finding someone worth dying for.
• Marriage is for life
• Turn to the highest power – God – when your hurting

 

“Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

• Isaiah 40:31

My favorite book of the Bible is Proverbs. It is full of instruction and advice on how to live a good and Godly life. But my favorite passage is in the book of Ecclesiastes, it pretty much sums up life.

A Time for Everything

For everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

• Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

My prayer for you is found in Ephesians 3:14-21

“For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who can do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Congratulations. I am proud of the person you have grown up to be. I have enjoyed watching you grow up. I hope you get everything in life you want and more.

Until another day,

AC