Graduations

I’m excited! By this time next week I will be in the U.S. with my kids. Hannah graduates with her M.A. in history on Thursday, May 7. Martha receives her B.A. in nursing on Saturday, May 9. Jonathan turns 19 on Monday, May 11. David, Sara, Martha, and Hannah, along with Hannah’s best friend, Allie, will leave for a 3 week vacation to Europe on May 29. But until then, we will all be at David’s house for some enjoyable family time. I return to the Philippines on June 1.

It’s been nearly 2 years since I wiped the tears from my eyes as I drove away from Hannah’s apartment in Virginia, leaving her to the rigors of graduate school. Hannah chose James Madison University because of their quality graduate school and because they gave her a graduate assistant’s job, which paid full tuition plus some. Now, hundreds of books and dozens of papers later, she is done.

One of her crowning achievements, which has been placed in JMU’s Living Archives, is her digital exhibit thesis – a website that examines the recent history of a particular people group. Not surprisingly, Hannah chose to look into the lives of Filipinos living in the Shenandoah Valley of Virgina. You can see Hannah’s work here: sites.jmu.edu/lifeinthevalley

Likewise, Martha has done incredibly well, having excelled in Liberty University’s challenging nursing program. After 4 years of study, research, papers, clinicals, as well as ministry, counseling, and community service, Martha is ready to enter the job world. Martha’s long range goal is overseas mission work. But to use her nursing skills effectively, she needs to practice those skills in a hospital setting for at least a couple of years. She has begun to apply to hospitals and will also have to take a state nursing board exam sometime in mid-summer.

Jonathan could have graduated with his Associate’s degree in Computer Networking this summer, but decided to extend his academic career for another semester in order to take a couple of extra classes that will help him reach higher level certifications. But the best news for Jonathan is that he applied for and was accepted to a full-time job at the Dallas campus of Cisco, Inc., the world’s largest supplier of computer networking and internet equipment. He begins his new job the first of June and will continue to live with Sara and David.

For those of you in the Fort Worth area, you are invited to David’s house on Saturday, May 16, to celebrate Hannah’s and Martha’s graduations. Part of our family time during the month will likely include a 4 day hiking trip into the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico on Memorial Day weekend. But mainly we just want to enjoy our evenings together, relaxing in David’s living room, reflecting on the past, cherishing the present, and praying for the future.