Echoed Thanks

It was Dale Carnegie, world-renowned author and lecturer, who asserted that "a person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound."  While I certainly believe there is some truth to that, I think that for parents, surely the sound of their children's names is just as sweet ... if not more so.  Similarly, when people take their precious time and use their personal resources to encourage and undertake on behalf of my children, in many ways it is more gratifying than if they had done the same thing for me.

I am thankful to our many friends ... who remain excellent sources of practical help and wisdom.

I pondered this while we were in Knoxville on Monday, crammed into a huge auditorium waiting for Erica's name to be called ... and there was plenty of time to spare as the awarding of diplomas is pretty much last and being a dubya she was at the tail end of her section of graduates, which happened to be one of the later sections.  For a while I busied myself scanning the names of graduates listed on the program, and, finding hers and having savored the honor legend beside it, I searched for the names of other young people with whom I have had contact over the years.  There were several and I was happy for them, and I think I know exactly how their parents, scattered throughout the crowd, felt.

When the announcer finally called Erica's name, it was a sweet moment for me and TG.  I'm sure it was for Erica as well.  Four years of study distilled into a few seconds of triumph.  And then you have the diploma in its cushy cover and you grab that tassel and a few flashbulbs go off, and you're done.  Time to move on.

I taught my children to say (and write) "thank you" a lot.  And thankfully, each of them have a great deal for which they should be thankful.  Probably even with purposeful instruction in expressed gratitude, none of us utter those words enough. 

I am thankful to God for His faithfulness to my children, and His provision for them throughout their lives.  I thank Him for loving them, saving them, and keeping them.  I am thankful for all that His Son, Jesus Christ, means to them.

I am thankful to my parents and Greg's parents who, in addition to consistently praying for my children, have provided both moral and financial support.  Their extraordinary generosity is overwhelming at times, and it is very much appreciated.

I am thankful to other family members -- aunts and uncles, cousins, in-laws -- who have shown unconditional love and, in doing so, have contributed to the education and welfare of my children.

I am thankful to the visionaries who start schools and have the courage to press on and do the hard thing despite obstacles.  What they do, they do for the sake of future generations.  My children have profited greatly from this.

I am thankful to our many friends -- too many to count, apparently, for even as a few dozen names come to mind, I fear I cannot remember them all -- who have prayed for and encouraged my children throughout, and who remain excellent sources of practical help and wisdom.

I am thankful to my children's friends who have been a good example and have called them to a higher standard of conduct, and also to those who have allowed my children to influence them.

I am thankful to those who have employed and still employ my children, investing costly time in their training and development.  The opportunties they provide amount to vital stepping stones for my kids, the value of which really cannot be estimated until later, in hindsight.

On Sunday morning I was embraced by a friend of many years who has opened her home to Erica while the Boo continues to work at her job and gets her bearings regarding the immediate future.  This means so much to me; to know that your child is safe and secure in a time of transition is a great comfort.

On Monday afternoon I met the charming wife of a man who has taken Andrew under his wing, giving him not only a job but a certain degree of trust that doesn't just happen every day.  And while this lovely woman lives in a mansion of splendor and is surrounded by great wealth, she was as personable and down-to-earth as I can imagine a person being upon meeting strangers.  She said some kind things about my son that indicate genuine interest in him and his future.  This is not lost on me and I pray it will never be lost on my son. 

I am so thankful to those who, no matter what, remain positive about the human experience.  There are inevitable setbacks in life, but we should make it a habit to ignore -- or at the very least, take with a grain of salt roughly the size of a bowling ball -- the prophecies of those ubiquitous doomsayers who eternally prate about the sky's imminent collapse.  They dot the landscape like sepulchral ravens, but they are illusions!  The future is as bright as our justifiable optimism can imagine it to be.

My children and yours are proof of that.

Congratulations, Erica!

Update on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 07:19PM by Jennifer

Erica graduated cum laude from The Crown College in Powell, Tennessee, on Monday, May 5, 2008.  She earned a Bachelor of Biblical Studies, Secondary Education, as well as a Phonetic Reading Instructor Certificate.  We are very grateful for her life and testimony, and for the exemplary daughter she has always been.  As you can see, she's cute, too!  Erica wants to teach math and science and is contemplating many job opportunities!  She is a capable and wonderful young lady with a bright future.  Congratulations and much love to you, little Boo!

Click the picture to view the album of 44 photos!

Pomp And Circumstance

Y'all hold the phone for a few days while TG and I (and our enthusiastic sidekick for this trip, Robyn) head for Tennessee to watch daughter Erica put on a roomy black gown and a flat hat with lots of strings hanging off it and try not to trip or laugh as her name is called -- "Erica Jean Weber" -- and she traverses the stage to grab that impressive diploma.  Lots of family members will be on hand and you know there will be many pictures upon my return.  So stay tuned to this station!