Hannah's Graduation

We’re back. A busy 2 weeks it was. Shopping and doctor visits for Jonathan filled our first 2 days in Virginia (and eating, but we won’t talk about that). On Friday the 11th, all of us attended a banquet honoring Liberty University’s history graduates. Listening to all the nice comments about Hannah from her professors was fun. Hannah has worked hard to earn her achievements, but I credit Jan for Hannah’s active mind.

I remember a time years ago when I saw a copy of Jan’s senior high school year book. In the back were pictures of all the graduates with their accomplishments and awards listed below their picture. About half of the pictures had nothing listed. Others had one, or maybe two lines of accomplishments and awards. A handful had three lines. But Jan had five, including Valedictorian.

After the history banquet, Hannah gave us a tour of Poplar Forest (the summer home of Thomas Jefferson) where she had just finished working as an intern. Later in the evening, we celebrated Jonathan’s 16th birthday.

The next day, we listened to Mitt Romney give the commencement address at the graduation ceremony with over 16,000 graduating seniors. By next year, Liberty University will have over 100,000 students enrolled in its residential and on-line schools.

In the afternoon, each department had their own ceremony. Hannah was given the honor of speaking to the graduating students. After the ceremony, I helped pack up Hannah’s things from her dorm room as she said goodbye to her fellow classmates. By night time we were back in Roanoke.

On Sunday afternoon, we traveled to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee where we enjoyed 2 days of hiking and tubing. The mountains were beautiful and the water was cold. Hannah’s best friend, Allie, joined us for the adventure.

Now, Jonathan is in Texas, staying with David and Sara as he waits to begin his summer job next week working at Riverbend Baptist Camp outside of Fort Worth. Hannah has begun her new job as a tour guide at Mt. Vernon, just outside Washington D.C., as she also prepares for her GRE graduate school exam. Martha is here with me, making preparations for youth camp in a couple of weeks in Indonesia, where she will be one of the teachers.

The trip was exciting. Bill and Judy were wonderful hosts. It was especially satisfying to be together with all my kids. But I’m glad to be back in the Philippines. There are churches to be planted and disciples to be made. The incredible task of building God’s kingdom continues.