I love this girl. She’s one of my most faithful photography models—always ready for a good photo shoot. This one was a bit of a rush since we needed to get it done before I leave for Israel, but it was a lot of fun exploring a couple of Sebring venues I haven’t used before. :) I’ll miss her!
Oh, beautiful Ashley. She is one of my favorite people, and her loving heart just glows out of her. I’m so thankful for joyful and encouraging people like her!
When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, “What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?”
“They are the days of a long time ago, Laura,” Pa said. “Go to sleep, now.”
But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa’s fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods… She was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.
— Laura Ingalls Wilder
Dear Hallie of the future,
It’s May 9th, 2013—the day you closed your Bible at 4:30pm in your classroom at Grace Church of Sebring for the last time. The notes in its margins finally reach the last page of Revelation. You have finished, and finished well.
But you know that this isn’t the end. Graduation is called a commencement for a reason. Your formal training has ended, but that means your quest has only begun. Don’t ever forget the sense of awe that pervaded your heart today as the final battles and victories of God’s story played out before your eyes in that classroom. Remember that your ultimate purpose is to serve your God, and that you are merely an “extra” with one frame of screen time in His glorious story. Your best day is the day that you know you stood exactly where He told you to and didn’t botch your only line.
Now is now, but moment by moment, the now’s become then’s and give way to new now’s. Take it all in while it lasts, but don’t cling too tightly. I don’t think your tendency will be to fly too quickly by life; I think it will be to stop and look around for too long—to get so overly consumed with where you are that you miss where you’re going. Don’t let a passion for this moment blind you to the one coming at you. Don’t miss opportunities while you pine for the past or worry about the future. Remember who is in charge. Pursue Him without reservation in every moment, and seek first the cause of His kingdom. Live surrendered to His will.
You came into this program with a longtime relationship with Jesus Christ and background in church, but your arsenal for the spiritual battle was quite empty. Now it has been filled. Don’t let your weapons decay or your skills get rusty. Stay in practice—maintain yourself for battle and honor your King!
Sincerely,
the Hallie that just finished GCBI.
