Hi Friends,

I’ve been feeling a little run down this week. I sound like I’ve screamed my head off at a hockey game or something, but I haven’t. Then yesterday I had a terrible headache all day. Maybe it’s natural after last weekend. My 21-year-old son, Nate, graduated from The University of Georgia, which he did in just three years. This required a ton of hard work and was only possible because he started college with more than 25 credit hours from AP classes. Plus it was Mother’s Day. There was a lot of celebrating and a lot of roadtripping.

We heard two commencement speeches, one for the Terry College of Business and one for the whole school. Both of them were quite good. Both referenced Scripture — one gave the verse and reference, the other just used the wisdom without acknowledging that it came from the Bible. It made me realize the formula for a great commencement speech is to share a few personal stories, the funnier and more self-deprecating the better, and then share some biblical wisdom. A pastor once said a good sermon is just telling a joke and running to the Cross. But it applies beyond the pulpit because laughing is not just medicine — it’s heart-softening balm. It prepares you to receive truth and hope. Colleges should only platform speakers who can be funny. After the audience is softened up with a few laughs, then the speaker can share a few worthy points to ponder. Have you ever noticed that it is practically impossible to share a worthwhile message that is not somewhere in the Bible?

Yet many people do not look to the Bible for wisdom. In fact, there are people who treat the Bible as irrelevant for life in the 21st Century. What a profound victory for darkness to convince whole groups of people to avoid cracking open God’s Word. I am praying this morning for my friends who never read the Bible. May they have an openness to reading even just The Book of John and Proverbs.

And let’s be honest too about the results of ignoring God’s Word in the earliest stages of life. The cute photo above is Nate on Wednesday holding his birthday twin and second cousin, Bennett. Like Nate, this little baby isn’t being raised in a household that believes that children should figure out the truth for themselves. Hopefully the world is waking up to the horrifying effects of that nonsense. No, Bennett is being raised in a home where biblical wisdom is a part of daily life. He is being pointed to the truth with love. He is prayed over and cherished as wonderfully and uniquely made.

Maybe in 21 short years I’ll attend Bennett’s college graduation and hear a few fun tidbits and a message that sprints to the Cross. Maybe Nate will give the address. That wouldn’t surprise me at all.

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1b-2.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Love,

Kristie