This past weekend we celebrated the accomplishments of our wonderfully gifted masters and doctoral students who graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Next weekend our family will come alongside our daughter Rebekah as she collects her Bachelors degree in Business Administration and Communications from Gordon College…we are very proud parents!

Commencement is a ceremony that looks back on successful academic achievement, and forward to new vocational chapters of life yet to unfold. Past, present and future all wrapped up together in one event. The pomp and circumstance adds color to the day, and with the crossing of the stage and the collection of the engraved diploma comes new opportunities to grow, serve and live.

When we craft a personal rule of life (www.RuleOfLIfe.com) we too look back with remembrance and thanksgiving for all that God has allowed thus far. We take stock of where we are in all aspects of our daily lives, describing the many ways we are choosing to live today. And, we look forward prescriptively to where we sense God inviting us to both DO and BE for His glory as dearly beloved children.

Each new season of life – including all the inflection points that serve as markers along the way – is like another “commencement” exercise. We don’t turn the pages of our lives too swiftly, but instead we trust in the Lord to guide, direct, and sustain us for the journey ahead. That’s the joy and beauty of a well-ordered life!

Happy Graduation one and all – moving forward with renewed trust, dependence, and attentiveness to the loving hand of God is all you need for the new seasons ahead.

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” Matthew 6: 33.