Dearly Loved: hope and a future

(no comment on the fact that these events happened over a month ago...)

When the graduation season hit this year it hit HARD! I began my rounds early May and didn't stop until June was nearly half over! Whew!

#1: JMU Graduation- May 7th

It's funny, as I drove through Harrisonburg on graduation day (2011), I got this huge lump in my throat and felt tears start to sting my eyes. I had not missed that town one single time in the whole year that I'd been gone, but in that moment something in me yearned for the life I had lived for 4 years in that place. It is strange how certain places {or smells, or songs, or just the way a day feels} can hit you out of nowhere and transport you to another time in an instant. The definition of bittersweet: pleasant but tinged with sadness. I think that is a pretty accurate way to describe these brief, yet poignant moments.

{It was so fun to watch good friends celebrate their big day- Nichole and Kate}

#2: Waynesboro High School Baccalaureate (the graduation ceremony where they actually allow you to acknowledge that God is the one who has blessed us with the lives we lead, not us. And that there's more to it than just doing whatever it takes to realize success or whatever else the graduation speaker might choose to say during his/her 15 minutes of fame... okay, I'll hop down off my soap box now.)

{me and my sweet friend Jessie- she didn't graduate, but came to support her friends who did}

#3: Waynesboro High School Graduation

{these are 4 of my favorite people in the whole world... I love them and their beautiful hearts}

{Isn't she lovely??}

#4: Cave Spring High School Graduation

I couldn't help but get a little misty eyed as 'Pomp and Circumstance' launched Rachel's graduation ceremony- the last one of the family to walk across that high school stage in red and black. I couldn't believe it had been 5 years since I heard my own name called to come receive my diploma. Time flies!