Our daughter Nikki and many

of your sons and daughters and relatives will be

graduating in a few days and begin a whole new life.

As life moves on and we all

grow up and look back at our high school days, they are

looked upon by some as great events and to others they

were suffering to endure. I loved school from the social

perspective and did enjoy some courses, but I can still

today remember some math courses I hated from the passion

and depths of my soul.

I can remember a statistics

course I took at Georgia State University that I needed

for graduation. Once again it involved math so my

"fear" shields were already up and working

well. I had gotten a tutor and had a friend taking the

class with me and had a prayer meeting going on at home.

With that winning combination, I gloriously got a

"C" out of it and to this day I am praising and

thanking God for helping me to pass that course.

Some may differ with me on

this next statement but I never put undue pressure on my

children to make A's. We have, however, encouraged them

to have good study habits and tried to create a loving

home environment for learning, and strongly encouraged

them to embrace the learning process.

Last week we attended the

honors and awards ceremony at Sams Auditorium for Fayette

County High School and watched all the wonderful students

getting their very deserved accolades. It was also

refreshing to see their teachers glow when they would

talk about their students' accomplishments.

I smiled inside to think of

my high school and college days and my wife's high school

and college days. My wife, Dee, graduated as

valedictorian of her high school and received many of the

academic awards. I laughed to think of how some of us

breezed through our education and how some, like me,

struggled through. While people like my wife were

graduating cum laude, I graduated with "THANK YOU

LAWDY"!

There is for all of us the

most important "awards ceremony" we will ever

attend, and that is the one conducted by our heavenly

father. As I understand God's word, there are only three

things that will last in the final analysis; the word of

God, the works of righteousness, and the souls of

mankind. Come Lord Jesus, bring on Graduation Day. The

diploma will read: "Well done my good and faithful

servant!"

The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon

is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a

substitute school teacher in the Fayette County School

System, and a former Army chaplain. The church is

currently meeting in the American Legion Log Cabin across

from the fountain on the Square in Fayetteville. Prayer

line 770-719-2365; e-mail [email protected] .