Amid all its blessings, spring brings an annual migration where young men and women walk across the graduation stages of our nation’s colleges and universities and receive their diplomas. They then walk into their futures with great expectations.

Be still and know that I am God.
—Ps. 46:10 ESV

In Ps. 18:16 and 19, God reminds us to brace ourselves in His strength…Regardless of our storms, God rescues us and gives us strength.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. –Phil. 4:13 ESV

‘The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’

For me, the beginning of the new year is always exciting. What will the ensuing months bring? Where will I fail? Where will I succeed? How will I grow? Coupled with looking ahead, I always make it a practice to look behind. To reflect on the closing year, to remember, and to ask, “What has God been up to in my life?”

‘This is all I have to give you,’ she said sadly. What a wonderful gift! It reminded me of Mark 12:42.

This down-to-earth lady who loved God, her church, her family, and international students at SRU is proof that we are never too old to serve our Lord.

When our children go away to college, we worry. As parents, we all have the same questions: Will our child make the right choices? Will she be strong enough to say no? Will her Christian training be enough to guide her? But deep down it is not them we are worried about; it is us.

The greatest miracle in Joshua’s life occurred just two weeks after his birth, when the Holy Spirit called Joshua to be His child through the waters of Holy Baptism.

I fear no harm, for with his arm
He shall embrace and shield me;
so to my God I yield me.

I am certain the child must have heard a parent or other significant adult say something about being “down in the dumps,” a phrase we use when things aren’t going well for us.