Originally this post was to the Class of 2021 – but I pen in now to seniors everywhere.
Dear Class of 2021,
Every May, without fail, I sit in a peaceful, Sunday morning church service and I experience the senior video playing across the screen. My daughter Megan would look at me with a smirk.
She knew.
It never mattered that I had no senior yet. The music, the images, the kids that had grown into adult bodies…Every single time – I am a mess – E.V.E.R.Y. time. This year, as a senior mom, it was tears upon tears – happy tears, sad tears, thankful tears, all the tears! It didn’t matter if it was the Church video or something totally unexpected and silly that would trigger the waterfall – but so. many. unexpected. tears.
To the Class of 2021, I am so proud of you.
Looking back through your senior pictures, I see so much more than beautiful, fun, kind, athletic, talented, charming young people.
I see hope and possibility.
I see resilience and fight.
I see flexibility and perseverance.
The last two years of your high school were anything but ordinary. When you started kindergarten and your moms and dads were teary-eyed, newer to parenting and full of hope and expectation, this likely was not the way they would have anticipated your junior and senior years to transpire – tainted with the uncertainty and pain of Covid and the brokenness of our world.
But one thing you learn as you get older is that things change – and things don’t always go as expected – actually many times things don’t go as expected. And ordinary becomes a bit overrated and under-experienced.
Academics can only teach so much… But if you can learn how to have joy, hope, and peace in a world separate from your circumstances, amidst an environment that can cause anxiety and unrest;
If you can learn to advocate for empathy and champion compassion;
If you can learn how to disagree kindly with someone else;
Then I believe you have learned a lesson more valuable than academics could teach.
If your parents are like me, my guess is that they are in the “my child just graduated and is an adult now” recovery phase. (Pray for us people!) We just passed through the valley of every possible emotion on earth possible! We watched the last eighteen years of your sweet lives flash through our minds – the good, the bad, the firsts and lasts, the unknown and the terrifying. It went so quickly and yet so slowly – all at the same time. You know whatever emotion you are feeling as a daughter or a son, likely your parent is riding that same emotional roller coaster with you. Parenting is exhilarating and exhausting, exciting and excruciating – and completely exceptional.
You probably have received a ton of advice. Here are just a few things I would love to add to your collection:
- Don’t take things too seriously. (Really!!!)
- Comparison truly is the enemy of joy. Be content with the beauty and the gifts God has given you. There is only one YOU! (Psalm 139:14)
- Choose kindness, love, empathy and compassion. Those choices are never wrong.
- No one is perfect – not even you. You actually cannot be. There is freedom in that! Failure and mistakes are opportunities for growth. Embrace them as part of the growing process.
- Don’t let your circumstances dictate your outlook. Let truth be your anchor. (Hebrews 6:13-20)
- Social Media cannot handle all of your opinions so be wise and careful with what you choose to share. Also social media affects our perception of reality – and it is not necessarily reality. Hold it loosely. Look to God’s Word for truth and freedom – not Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter. Fill your mind with His truth more than other’s opinions.
- Don’t let your phone or any technology master you. Set boundaries.
- Live thankfully and use words to share how grateful you are.
- Enjoy the journey – there will be ups and there will be downs… but God’s goodness, mercy and grace are always the same – no matter the highs and lows. Knowing He is still good always leaves us with hope – and His eternal hope never disappoints! (Romans 5:5)
As parents, we will continue to pray for you, cheer for you, weep with you and celebrate with you. We will worry about you when you are here and worry about you when you are gone. We will lose our breath wondering about all the things we messed up in our parenting and all the things we should have done better. We will try to understand that you are adults now and accept that our relationship will change.
We will remember you are pretty special… and that you were God’s first and we can trust Him with you.
As you go on to school at Palm Beach Atlantic or Olivet or Bowling Green or Spring Arbor…. Liberty or Lipscomb, Baylor or Taylor…Florida State, Miami, OSU or Lee…IWU, Hope, Cedarville, CState; whether you decide to work, or choose a Gap-Year framework or learn a trade…. know how much you are loved and how proud we all are of you.
(And if you see a senior mom anytime soon, give them some grace and love. ;))
Much love and many prayers –
