Our daughter Cecilia graduates in less than a week from high school. She is our youngest child. This afternoon our church hosted a Baccalaureate service for the senior class. It’s a simple service with a few prayers and a brief message. It’s like a pause before graduation to publicly and collectively thank God for His faithfulness throughout their high school years.
Before the service I looked out the window and saw the students heading toward the church. My eyes filled with tears unexpectedly. (I was fine two seconds ago!) I realized that today I would begin to prepare to say good-bye to my little girl. Up to now, I had pushed this thought away, focusing instead on preparations for college rather than preparing my heart.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” (Ecclesiastes 3. 1)
God willing, Cecilia and I have many years of blessed relationship to come. But for now she and I have entered a season that I want to be very intentional about: her last summer before moving away. I’ll continue to disciple her, to strengthen our relationship, and to spend lots of time together. At the same time, I hope I will cherish moments I would usually take for granted, look for moments to watch her and listen to her, seize opportunities to hug her, and express my deep love.
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