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| Two Brothers |
Wyndham Ocean Ridge Resort on Edisto Island, South Carolina, was, again, a wonderful place to stay in the spring. We will look forward to our return in 2024. We ended the time with my brother and his wife as our guests. They drove us to their home in Simpsonville, South Carolina for an overnight stay before taking us to the Greenville, South Carolina, airport for our flight to Springfield, Missouri.
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| Four Generations |
We jetted to Missouri to visit with my son's family. While there, we were introduced to our first great grandchild, Aela, and attended the
High School Commencement of Aaron's youngest son, Ethan, and the Commencement for Aaron's wife, Jennifer, as she finished Nursing School. Following the dedication ceremony for Aela, we flew to Indiana. It was there that we spent some time at our cabin, took care of doctor appointments, and attended the High School Commencement of our daughter's daughter, Abigail. That's a pretty busy schedule for two old great grandparents!
Now it's time to pack for our four month stay in Seward, Alaska.
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| Three Graduates REFLECTIONS I have been reminded these past few weeks that life moves on. My brother is now 84 and I will turn 75 in June. My grandson is now a father and my son is a grandfather. Yeah, I know, that makes me a great grandfather. My daughter in law has started a new career. Two more grandchildren have graduated from High School. Next week I will celebrate my 54th wedding anniversary! It's now been 13 years since I pastored a church. We will soon begin our 8th year of retirement. Time, indeed, does march on. One of the commencement speakers we heard expressed how much she did not like "slow walkers" in the school hallways but then enjoined her classmates to "slow walk" their lives after graduation. She encouraged them to not rush by the moments that make life special. If you are younger, with children, I ask you to consider how quickly life is moving along. Take time to enjoy them as they explore their world. Be present in their lives. If you are older, commence to reflect and invest yourself in the lives of those closest to you. Slow down, count your blessings, and challenge yourself daily. We should never just "graduate". We should "commence". We should never just end each segment of our lives; we should begin a new adventure with all its challenges and blessings. To graduate or to commence? I choose to commence until my final commencement day.  Commencement at Olivet Nazarene College (1970) |
