Post-Graduation

The weeks, it seems, have been filled with anticipating, planning, and enjoying the beloved teenage son's graduation, and little else.  And yet, they've been filled with so much more:  papers, exams, hope, fear, sleepless nights, prayer, watching, waiting, asking for eyes to see God at work.  Eugene Peterson's Practice Resurrection has remained my companion through these weeks.

In his chapter, Prayer and All the Fullness, Peterson draws our eyes to Paul's prayer for the Ephesians-- prayer that flows from the plenitude of God.  Peterson encourage us to consider God's plenitude, not the seeming weight of our circumstances, in shaping our prayers.  He reminds us we pray to "the God who is previous to who we are and what we are doing, the God who is previous to what has gone wrong in our lives."  (pp. 158, 159).

Remembering and numbering the ways God revealed his plenitude in leading us to and through this milestone:



 
331. Superlatives, lavishness, and extravagance: Immeasurable riches of salvation, God’s manifold wisdom, riches of God’s glory, filled with all the fullness, abundantly far more, and on, and on, and on.

332. Chaperones willing to drive vans full of seniors to Virginia Beach.

333. AAA roadside assistance.

334. Nobody stressing.

335. Being able to leave it in God’s hands.

336. The perfect wig for my friend before she starts chemo; the very personal way God says to her, “I am with you in this.”

337. Amtrak, bringing my baby girl home for the graduation hoopla.

338. Graduation hoopla.

339. Balloons.

340. Cake

341. The son’s gift of music offered during the graduation ceremony; a friend willing to return to sing with him.

342. Poolside fun with friends.

343. Indoor fun with friends when the poolside fun got rained out.

344. Good food and wine.

345. Reunions.

346. Mother/daughter time—so brief, but so precious.

347. A graduation address, baccalaureate charge, and many, many prayers saturated with the gospel.

348. Having the whole family under the same roof for three nights.

349. Witnessing graduation with Ethel by my side; remembering the years she’s prayed alongside me.

350. The beloved son making a last-minute flight connection in Dallas on his way to his graduation trip.

351. Finishing.