Cheering for the HOME Team!

This last week I had the privilege of attending my 18 year old Daughter's High School Graduation. It was an exciting time to see Kristin walk across the stage ranked 8th out of 550 students. We were not the only family that was thrilled to see our offspring get a diploma. The stands at the football stadium were full of people who arrived an hour early to support the young persons of their families.

One of the frustrations of this evenings festivities, was that the sound system was so ineffective that you could not hear anything that was being said by almost any of the various speakers on the graduation program. This made the whole event seem even longer than the almost 3 hours we sere there.

But it was fun to watch families, wait sometimes 2 or more hours till there young boy or girl stepped up to get there diploma, and when they did, what a celebration!

Cheers, handmade signs, giant balloons, screams,, yells, fireworks and especially air horns were used to announce that Jessie, or Amber or whoever had arrived. In many cases 2o or more family and friends would stand or jump up and down and yell the name of their graduate.

I thought how if I were a kid down on that field it would make me feel to have such a wild party break out on my behalf! I would know how loved and cared for I was. I would have to feel pride and excitement at my shared accomplishments. I would be filled with joy that so many persons were cheering for me. I was reminded of the words of the writer of Hebrews that reminds us that we are running the race of life and their are a "Cloud of Witnesses" who are watching and cheering us on so that we can stick with it to the end.

As I sat in the stands with a couple of thousand other parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends of the graduating Class of 2008 of Del Rio High School, I felt great pride and joy for my daughter and for another 540 or so young persons. And I hope and prayed that at other times in their lives they would hear and feel the cheering and shouting and the pure glee that God our heavenly Father has for each of them.

In Jesus,
RevRick