Finally, school is out. The kids are happy, but we are trying to figure out what to do with them while we are so busy! Actually, Timothy and Sallie are going to camp next week, and the first week in Aug we are all going to a house in Naivasha with some friends to just hang out for a week. I am sure the time will fly by.
We are moving to a bigger house tomorrow. The bedrooms got painted today and the floors refinished. The 3 guys working on it didn't even stop to take lunch! They were moving! We have some friends and a van from the hospital coming to make the move easier. Actually, Jim and I think this will be the easiest move we have done in a very long time! We didn't bring that much and we haven't had the change to accumulate lots of stuff (yet)!
Next week I will fill you in on some major projects here that are moving along. But tonight (Friday) I am just going to post a speech from the closing ceremonies yesterday. It comes from a song back in 1997 and the words have been tweeked a bit. If you have time, it is very funny (and True)!
Graduation Chapel Speech
July 14, 2011
Class of 2011, (and the rest of you listening in) wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, the rest of my advice is primarily based on my own life experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly. True beauty does not come from outward appearance but from “your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:3-4)
Feel. God created us with emotions so we can enjoy the people and events in our lives. If we deny our emotions we may think we will never get hurt, but we will miss out on joy too.
Sing.
When choosing to follow the crowd, be careful which crowd you choose to follow. What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular.
A truly happy person is one who can truly enjoy the scenery on a detour!
I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Don't make someone your priority when to them you are only an option.
"There is a huge difference between believing what God has promised and praying for things you'd like to be true." - Francis Chan
Enjoy your time at RVA, it is much shorter in the big picture of your lives than it looks now. Look around you every day for chances to make positive memories. When you look back keep the good times written large in your memory and let the rough moments fade.
RVA will continue to function without you, but you need to come back as an alumni to see what I mean. It only takes a year for people to start saying, “Oh well, since your time…”
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Laugh. Often and freely, especially at yourself. It will exercise your diaphragm and put all the right lines on your face. Never fear wrinkles brought on by laughing or smiling too much. Smiling is a great way to introduce yourself.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Floss.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday. When it all comes down to it, God has those moments in His hand as well, let Him worry about them. “Cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) Corrie TenBoom once said, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't. Live every day in the presence of God and you will be where He wants you to be, and that is all that really matters anyway.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not for men.” (Colossians 3:23)
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, give God the glory in all things.
Enjoy your body. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. It’s also the only one you will ever have, and as a Christian it is the temple of the Holy Spirit and deserves to be treated as such.
Get to know the adults in your life. Contrary to popular belief, they are not here to cause you distress. God has placed them and you here at this point in time for His purposes. You may miss out on some great things that God wants to do if all you ever do is complain about people.
Find a bigger problem.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Sometimes when people walk out of your life, you need to shut the door. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young. Like riding a bike, good relationships are not awkward no matter how long the space of time between visits.
You cannot let life defeat you, love beat you, fear suppress, or money depress you, for you are stronger than you will ever let yourself believe
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Never do anything you wouldn’t want to explain to the paramedics.
Every argument has two sides and yours is not always the right one. Sometimes there is no right one and carrying on the argument is a sure way to lose a friend. There are occasions when a gracious, “you may be right” is the best way to end the argument and save the friendship.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Paul exhorts us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and…run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” so that at the end of our lives we can say with him, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (Hebrews 12:1, 2 Timothy 4:7)
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen
In His Hands,
Jullie T.
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