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Mighty King, help us your praise to sing.
Father glorious, embracing us before all time.
You made us heirs to Christ on high. And by your spirit now we cry,
Abba, Father. We long for the day we won't just steal.
Face to face, we'll worship and adore forever.
Your word is love, bearing our fatal curse with your living blood.
When guilt and doubt come rushing in, help us see your cross again.
You're the rock on which we live. Jesus, Savior.
All the day, three to one and three, we finally behold your majesty.
Give grace to weary hearts. Bring back the wonder.
Drive away the dark. You're the summer of our souls.
You're the fountain of our hope. Our assurance here below, spirit of the sun.
We long for the day we won't just steal.
There's nothing that my hands can do to save my guilty soul.
I cannot cleanse my filthy stains or make my spirit whole.
For nothing but the blood of all my sins erases.
I dare not claim my righteousness, but hide within his grace.
It is Christ who saved me from the depths. God's pardon I've received.
I'm washed within his precious blood. My heart is free.
Praise the
God of justice, truth, and might, who guides me by his mighty hand to walk within his light.
While Satan weaves his shallow lies, God speaks to me in love, reminding me his only son has bought me with his blood.
And Christ dispels my every doubt. Through him I am redeemed.
I love because he loved me first. I live because he lives.
A tear within the sea, but you are everlasting,
Lord. You free destiny. To leave this fading world behind, not fearing death will come.
For then I'll look on Jesus Christ and to his arms
I'll run. And when I see him face to face, what glory that will be.
To look upon my Savior's scars and know they were for me.
And face to face, what glory that will be.
My Savior's scars and know they were for me.
The gospel was promised by sages and prophets.
The scripture spoke of a son descendant of David, yet uncreated.
Clothed in our flesh he would come, predestined to seek us.
He took on our weakness and died our death on the cross.
But just as was spoken, the grave could not hold him, the glorious son of God.
His name is Jesus. His name is
Jesus. His name is Jesus Christ.
I've given to see his mercy proclaimed.
Announcing salvation to every nation. All for the sake of his name.
We're no longer strangers, for Jesus our Savior has come to make us his own.
We're called to be holy and now we live only to make his glory known.
Our Lord is
Jesus. His name is Jesus.
His name is Jesus Christ. Our Lord.
Our Lord. Mighty fortress is our
God. A shield that never fails. Amid the flood of mortal ills, his power will prevail.
Our ancient foe is cruel and armed with hate.
Yet with one word, he'll bow to Jesus' reign.
Hoping God, oh my soul, he is strong and he's strong to save.
Hoping God, he's a rock and you hide in place.
He's a mighty fortress. Trusting our worlds in place, he fights for us, the sovereign
Lord of hosts. From age to age, the triumphs is alone.
Hoping God, he's a rock. He is strong and he's strong to save.
Hoping God, he's a rock and you hide in place. All right, welcome this evening, ladies and gentlemen.
We are about to begin, so if you'll come in and find a seat. And I have one announcement here before we begin as you're finding your seat.
On the way in, somebody dropped an envelope with a bunch of cash in it. And somebody picked that up.
Yep. The fact that everybody didn't raise their hand is evidence that this is not a Sandpoint High School graduation ceremony.
Okay, so you'll just need to talk to Lisa Slippy and identify all of the serial numbers on all of the bills and the envelope and the order in which those serial numbers are in the envelope and we'll give it to you.
And if you can't do that, then we'll give it to whichever student can come up here and name all the presidents.
Good raffle. Okay, that is my only announcement. Thank you. Testing. There we go.
Okay, perfect. So welcome to the 2021 grad night where a bunch of kids finally get to stop going to school and instead get to work for the rest of your life.
Congrats. Yay. All right, so first up, everyone will need to look a little bit lower because this graduate is a bit on the height deprived side.
Unable to ever reach her goal of 360 windmill dunking on her brother and may need a warning label tattooed on her forehead of no filter may make you cry.
Who also has the family problem of road raging at people who go the speed limit. Give it up a little bit lower for Raylynn McArthur.
All right, this next graduate has a love of ice cream but doesn't like its cousin cheese. Would love to be a magician if he was in the circus and hates to fly but wishes he would enjoy it.
He is looking forward to a summer of golf and family reunion with everyone here at the Lake in July. Give it up for Andrew Hernandez.
All right, this graduate absolutely hates the word bunion. So I'm going to say it a lot. Who often gets in trouble for her stubbornness but also enjoys having it as a trait.
And unlike me, does not have a crippling fear of heights because she would be a trapeze artist if she was in the circus and has the song that you will now be singing in your head the rest of the night called
Barbie Girl Memorized. Give it up for Elise Reiter. All right, up next this graduate wishes he loved tomatoes but hates them.
Also loves ranch on rice. Which kind of rice? Frankly, we don't know. This pyromaniac wishes that lightsabers were real so he can light things on fire or cause explosions because why not?
He may or may not fall asleep in his next band class. Sorry mom and dad. Give it up for Sam Becker.
All right, this next graduate is probably going to school to be a male car model. But if his modeling career doesn't take off, he plans on trying to be the next yellow
M &M guy because food of course. He's the kind of guy who's doing his part to save you money and help you live better but also irritate your eardrums by restoring his 2000
Mazda Miata so he can sound really loud going really slow. Give it up for Leo Osmond.
All right, this next graduate really, really, really hates snakes, especially the ones the size of an elephant.
No reason, just really hates them. If you have ever wanted to get rid of $100 ,000 just because it was burning a hole in your pocket, you can watch her eat a spider but not a snake.
Give it up for Claire Cave. All right, this graduate would love to create an amphibious bird but don't worry,
God already did that just in time for your graduation. It's called a penguin. However, one animal she does wish was real that isn't is a dragon.
Sick choice. She would love to travel back in time to meet George Washington because he's amazing and survey says she's correct.
This graduate is going to be studying art, writing, and Japanese. Give it up for Amy Razor. All right, this graduate was made possible by the teacher that lives in a pineapple under the sea.
That's right, SpongeBob SquarePants. She loves the Lord with all her heart, loves her family and friends.
For her future, she would like to preserve her art, especially an oil painting. Give it up for Auline Smith. Would you please stand as we sing this evening
Our Great God. Eternal God Unchanging Mysterious and unknown
Your boundless love Unfailing Grace and mercy show
Bright seraphim in ceaseless flight
Around Your glorious throne They raise their voices day and night
In praise to You alone Hallelujah Glory be to our great
God Hallelujah Glory be to our great
God Lord, we are weak and frameless in the storm
Surround us, Lord Your angels hold us in Your arms
Our cold and ruthless enemy His pleasure is our all
Rise up, O Lord As He wills we before our sovereign
God Let every creature in the sea and every flying bird
Let every mountain every field and valley from the earth
Let all the moons and all the stars in all the universe
Sing praises to our living God Who holds them by His throne
Hallelujah Glory be to our great
God For the throne of God Of a strong and perfect plea
I pray Thy priesthood's name as light for me
My name is written on His hand My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands No tongue can give me peace to part
No tongue can give me peace to part When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of my guilt within Upon I look and see
Him there Who made an end to all my sin
And as the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is bound and free
For God the just is satisfied To look upon Him To look upon Him To look upon Him The perfect spotless righteousness
The perfect spotless righteousness The great unchangeable The great unchangeable I am the
King of glory And of grace One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased My soul is purchased With His blood My life is hid
With Christ on high With Christ my Savior And my
God With Christ my Savior And my God Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Son of God Son of God Before the cross of Christ Before the cross of Christ At His love divine
God's perfect Son God's perfect Son was sacrificed To make me righteous
In God's eyes This ever stands I cannot know
But I'm in glory In His love The Lord most high
Has bowed down low And borne on me His glorious love
And borne on me His glorious love Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Praise the
One Praise the One Risen Son of God Risen Son of God Hallelujah Hallelujah Praise the
One Risen Son of God Risen Son of God Risen Son of God You may be seated.
Alright, graduation. This marks the end of a certain phase of your life and the beginning of another phase of your life.
It is probably the most monumental thing that has happened to you on this earth aside from your nine -inch journey down a birth canal which you had nothing to do with and which you probably don't remember, but you will remember this, and this is a significant event, and graduation is a good opportunity for you guys to take some,
I answer some questions, and take some inventory as to where you're at and what you're gonna do with the rest of your life, and this is the point where when you graduate from high school, you start to ask yourself all kinds of questions, and you get asked questions by other people, other people ask you, so what are you gonna do with the rest of your life?
You don't know that, do you? Because you really don't know what the rest of your life holds. I didn't know what
I was gonna do with, I still don't know what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life, I hope it's what I've been doing with the better part of the last part of my life, but I don't know what holds for me, or people will ask you, so what does the future hold for you?
You don't know that, I don't know that, nobody here knows that, because the truth is, any one of you could be dead by this time next week, and I don't say that to be funny, that's just the truth, any one of us could be dead by this time next week, because we have no guarantee on what life holds, we have no guarantee on tomorrow, the next breath that we take, or what's gonna happen tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or a year from now.
All we can do is hope for the best, and hope that we make decisions now that will impact us positively in the future.
But you have a lot of plans that you have to make, and a lot of decisions that you have to make, and a lot of directions that are available to you, people ask you questions about what you wanna do with the rest of your life, and what does the future hold, and what are you gonna do next, and you can kind of plan that out, but you don't have any guarantee on any of that, you hope you might be accurate with some of it, and you're gonna be wanting to answer all kinds of questions like, who am
I going to marry, and where am I going to live, and what education am I going to pursue after high school, and what job am
I gonna have, and what are my career choices, and what career should I choose, and those are all big questions, those are all big decisions, but there's an even bigger question that you should be asking at this point, and it's not what am
I gonna do with the rest of my life, but for whom am I going to live the rest of my life? That's the big question that you need to answer.
You need to get that answer out of the way first, before you can answer any other question, because if you have that question answered correctly, and if you're answering it in the right way, then you can make other decisions along the path that will help you to aim at your goal, which ought to be the glory of God.
And so I bring in now this text from 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, where the apostle says, whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, and we might add, we give thanks to God through Jesus Christ in this life.
Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God. Now, it is impossible for anyone in this room to obey that command or to achieve that goal, to do everything for the glory of God, whether you eat or whether you drink.
It's impossible to do that if, first of all, you are not rightly related to God through Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with him through what his son has done for you on a cross.
If you are not a believer and you've never repented of your sin and trusted Christ for salvation, you cannot, in this world, make decisions that will honor and glorify
God because there is nothing that you can do as an unsaved individual with a heart that is dark and corrupt and a mind that is twisted and an inability to honor and plod.
There's no way for you to obey that command, to give him glory in every little thing that you do. Only a Christian can do that.
But if you've never repented of your sin, you must repent of your sin because we are sinners. Scripture says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
And because we have sinned, we have heaped up a debt of wrath that God owes us because of our sin.
So that in all of our iniquity and in all of our sins, we are heaping up for the day of judgment a store of wrath that God will pour out upon any who do not repent and lay hold of the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ and Christ alone.
The bad news is that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that we are guilty before God.
Scripture declares that to be the case. Our conscience bears witness to the fact that that is true. We have lied, we've stolen, we have blasphemed
God's name, we've taken his name in vain, we have dishonored our parents. We have not done everything that we can for the glory of God at every moment of our life from the point of our birth until now.
We're fallen and ruined and hopeless and helpless sinners. That is our natural state. That is how we come into this world.
And then every time we commit a sin, we heap up yet another transgression on our rap sheet and we stand before God guilty and condemned and depraved and unable to save ourselves.
That's the bad news. The good news is that God sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the second person of the
Trinity, into this world. The Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. He lived the life that you and I were required by the law of God to live.
He lived it in our stead and then he died on a cross and he bore the wrath that we deserve to pay for our sin.
So scripture says that God made him, that is Christ, who knew no sin and had never done any sin, he made him to be sin in our stead and he treated him as if he had committed all of the sins that we have committed so that he might turn around then and treat us as if we had done all of the righteous deeds that Jesus Christ had done.
God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
That's the glorious good news of the gospel. And then God commands us to repent, that is to acknowledge our sin, to see it as God sees it, and to turn from that sin and to trust and to believe that that message that Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived a perfect life and through his doing and through his dying and then through his resurrection, he has achieved salvation for any and all who will trust in him.
God commands us to repent of our sin and to believe that message of salvation, that gospel, and to trust
Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for righteousness. And when we do that, we are saved, we are redeemed, and adopted into God's family, and then we can do all things for the glory of God, whether we eat or whether we drink.
Now, that passage that I read to you, 1 Corinthians 10, 31, in the context, the apostle
Paul is dealing with the issues of brothers and sisters within the church who are eating and drinking things that would be offensive to other brothers and sisters.
He's talking in the context about use of our liberty and doing things not to offend other people's conscience. That's the context of that.
And the apostle Paul says in that in dealing with that issue within the body of Christ, our goal should be to live for the glory of God so that in our eating and in our drinking, what we're not concerned about is primarily our
Christian liberty. We're not concerned about what we eat or how we eat. What we are concerned about is can I do this thing to the glory of God?
And what is magnificent about that passage, I find, is that the things that the apostle Paul says that we should do for the glory of God, whatever we do, he names two rather mundane things, eating and drinking.
It's really a simple thing, just eat and drink. And that's something that you and I have already done at some point today.
You did it without even thinking about it. It's one of the most natural things that you do in your life. It's one of the most necessary things that you do throughout all of your life.
You do it several times a day. You sometimes will do it without even thinking that you should be giving God thanks for that cup of water.
And by the way, if you drank a cup of water and you didn't thank God for that cup of water today, that in itself was a sin because you failed to give him glory for giving you even that provision.
So that was yet another transgression that you have heaped up against a holy and righteous God. But I'll lay that aside for just a second.
The eating and the drinking, those are two very simple, very mundane, very everyday things that the apostle says we can do for the glory of God.
Your guys' concern as you look out over the rest of your life is not what great things can
I do for God. Because oftentimes we have this image that I can only glorify
God if I pastor a church of 10 ,000 people or if I'm a Christian singer or celebrity who sings before 20 ,000 people a week or if I'm the head of a corporation and I'm able to implement my worldview for everybody underneath me or if I can achieve some position of power and influence in the political realm or in the government or in entertainment.
If I could get some big pedestal, some big platform and do some great thing, if I can cure cancer, if I can solve the mystery of nuclear fusion or if I can cure some other disease,
Alzheimer's, then I would be able to glorify God in those big things. That is not what the apostle Paul says we are to be concerned with.
We are to be concerned with glorifying God in the small things, whether we eat or whether we drink. Those are two very simple and small things.
And our concern should not be that we aim for great and high and lofty things to glorify
God. If God should put that into your life, if he should give you that platform, then of course use it to glorify God.
But your primary concern should be, am I able to glorify God? Am I committed to glorifying
God in all of the mundane things that I do day to day? You see, your life is a series of small decisions that you make, small things that you do, small activities that you're engaged in each and every day for the rest of your life.
That will build your life. So if you are looking for the big thing to come along so that you can glorify
God in the big thing and you're missing all of the mundane ways that you can glorify God, you're gonna be missing all of the glorious and mundane ways that you can glorify
God. He doesn't call you to look and seek for great things to glorify him. He calls you to take the mundane things of life and to glorify him in those.
It's the small things. Every day of your life, you will have an opportunity to glorify God in the things that you eat, the things that you drink, the people that you meet, the things that you say, the decisions that you make.
So God calls you to glorify him by being a faithful husband, being a faithful wife, being a faithful father, being a faithful mother, being a
Christian parent who raises your kids in the fear and admonition of God and passes on to them a legacy. It's the small acts, it's the small things done each and every day.
Those are the things that you ought to be committed to. The big question is not what big thing can I achieve for God to glorify him?
The big question for you is how can I aim at the glory of God and do that in all of the mundane things that I do each and every day?
And if you are committed to glorifying God in all of the small things that you do each and every day, most of which nobody will notice, most of which will never make headlines, most of which will not get posted on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok or Snapchat or MeWe or any of the other nonsense that you're all involved in, most of that stuff will never go out there and be noticed by anybody.
And most of it will not be rewarded in this life or seen by other people or you'll even get thanked for.
Most of it will be completely unrecognized by all of the world, but God sees it, even in the small things, eating and drinking for the glory of God.
He sees the small things and you build one small thing, one act of faithfulness upon one act of faithfulness upon another, upon an act of obedience, upon an act of faithfulness and obedience and faithfulness, and you do that for 60 or 70 years and you know what you will have lived?
A life of faithful obedience to the glory of God. And there is no higher aim for the Christian, there is no greater goal for the
Christian, and there is no greater achievement in this world than a life that is lived for the glory of God.
Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, the mundane, small, everyday things, do it faithfully, do it in obedience to God, do it for His glory, and you will live a life that is aimed at and achieves the glory of God in everything.
Might not be a big thing, but it's the small things that count. That's my charge to you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your grace and goodness to these graduates and it is my prayer and the prayer of many who are here that they would live lives that are honoring and glorifying to you and that in all that they do, that they may give glory to you through the
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom you sent to be a sacrifice for our sins. And we pray that you would be honored through their lives, that you would give them grace to remember these things and to obey you and your word in everything.
We thank you for the sacrifice of Christ and pray that if there's anybody here who does not know Christ as Savior and Lord, that they may get that issue taken care of so that they can live a life that is glorifying to you in all of the small and mundane things.
Be honored, we pray, through all of the recognition and all that we do here this evening. In Jesus' name, amen. There is no split time.
Hey, how we doing back there, bud? Not me,
I'm just up here killing dead air time. Not really sure if this is live streamed or not, but they have to listen to me.
Hey, we're there. Really? Hello. And you guys let
Andrew do announcements? We are in a
North Idaho church, don't do that again. I saw at least five people.
And one of them wasn't the cop. Okay, I'm done, stop. Your fault,
Deidre, for putting me up here first. Now we're gonna focus on Raelynn. And that's driving me nuts.
Exactly. So, let's go back to the fact of, you are our third child.
Through all the education, we have picked different paths for each and every one of our kids.
You started out in the homeschool group, and then when mom was trying to do three at the same time, we realized this was just way too much.
So we put you in public school with the Christian school. If you're gonna correct me, take the mic.
Started out the Christian school, then we moved to the public school system. And out of everything we saw, we kept a short leash and always watched it.
You were our one who just needed to be around kids in a classroom and that social environment.
Through every bit of that, you never stumbled, you never tripped, you were always a light in those classes.
There was a time at Kootenai Elementary when they wanted to do the bow down thing, and you basically said,
I won't do a bow down because I don't think that's right. You held to your Christian faith throughout all of your school.
There's a few of your friends who may say you stumbled a little bit, but you know what? That's just being a teenager.
And if you haven't learned from those events, then why did I send you to school in the first place? So Jim always talks about how, you know, this is the simplest part of your life and the rest of your life is gonna be a little bit rougher and all that kind of stuff, and he's probably right.
But you persevered, you survived, you graduated with a 3 .97, almost got those yellow cords if just for that one class that you didn't quite pull off.
But all I can say is they gave us 10 minutes, I'm gonna go ahead and stall this out as long as I possibly can.
Deidre's shaking her head, no, you put me up here first. More than proud of everything you have accomplished in your life, and I know where you're going in your life, you will continue to accomplish and do great things.
You got anything? I'm done. Let's see a slideshow. ♪
This way it's second gear ♪ ♪
When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year ♪ One told you life wasn't gonna be this way ♪
Your job's a joke, you're broke, you're not lost, you always have a way ♪
You're still in bed at 10 in the morning and at 10 at night ♪ I think you've earned your breakfast so far, things are going great ♪
Your buddies are watching and they'll tell you when to tell your needs ♪
It seems you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me ♪
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with ♪
Someone that's breaking in second gear ♪♪ ♪
Grace desperately aiding his old place ♪
Dreamed to discover a new space ♪ And buried himself alive ♪
Inside his basement ♪ Tongue on the side of his face, man ♪
He's working away on displacement ♪ And what it would take to survive ♪
Cos when you're done with this world ♪ You know the next is up to you ♪
And his wife told his kids he was crazy ♪ And his friends said he'd fail if he tried ♪
With a will to work hard ♪ And a library card ♪
Took a homemade fan blade ♪ One man submarine ride ♪
Cos he was mad and I mean it ♪ Waves as big as he'd seen it ♪
Deep in his dreams at home ♪ From dry land he rolled it over to wet sand ♪
Closed the hatch up with one hand ♪ And paddled off alone ♪
And for once in his life it was quiet ♪
As he learned how to turn in the tide ♪
And the sky was aflare when he came up for air ♪
And his homemade fan blade ♪ One man submarine ride
Well, your mom and I are very proud of you. You've done a good job. And we just really appreciate how you've always stuck up for the underdogs.
You've stood up to bullies. And we really love your friends,
Libby and Nate and Dylan. You're really good friends. Love those kids.
And that's been a very good reflection of the character that you have. You know, good judgment on those kids.
And your other friends, too, right here in this church. You know, you've worked hard.
Appreciate the dedication you've given to wrestling and pole vault. You know, you've achieved some good things.
You've been a short timer, especially, in those things. Yeah, and love how you have researched
Scripture. You've done those things on your own. And you've worked hard at that.
And you've, you know, yielded to what you've read. And you've had great conversations with your mom and me on those things.
And that is the skill that we wanted to see, you know, most of all.
And you've done a good job. And we feel good about, you know, the initiative you've taken with your future.
And we're not worried about where you're going next. So, good job.
We love you. We're very proud of you. Andrew really lights up our lives.
In fact, he lights up the whole house. But one of these days, we're going to explain to him that switches that turn on the lights can also be used to turn them off.
Andrew's my train hunting buddy. He's the guy who makes me get lots of exercise by walking golf courses for hours.
And my fellow explorer on back roads of North Idaho. And in that same vein, he's a great traveler.
And we've seen a lot of the country, the three of us, Barbara and Andrew and I together. And we look forward to some more road trips together.
Most of you have heard that term, it takes a village. Well, I don't really agree with that.
But I do know that it's taken all three of us to get Andrew to the point where he is today.
He's also been blessed by the programs and the people in this church. And for that, we're very appreciative.
Also, he had the good fortune to discover golf at an early age. And he was able to be on the
Sandpoint High School golf team for all four years. We are grateful to those team members there and those coaches because they have really helped
Andrew to mature. Andrew has faced and will continue to face a lot of challenges and difficulties in his life.
But John and Katie and I have been so blessed to be his family. And we are so proud of the young man he has become.
Andrew will officially graduate this next Friday from Sandpoint High School. And as a symbol of the diploma he will get at that time, his mom has a presentation.
Presentation. You choose the humble and raise them high.
You choose the weak and make them strong. You heal our brokenness inside.
And give us life. The same love that set the captives free.
The same love that opened eyes to see. It's calling us all by name.
You are calling us all by name. The same
God that spread the heavens wide. The same God that was crucified.
It's calling us all by name. You are calling us all by name.
You take the faithless one aside. And speak the words you are mine.
You call the sin again the crown. Come to me now.
The same love that set the captives free. The same love that opened eyes to see.
The same God that spread the heavens wide.
The same God that was crucified. It's calling us all by name.
It's all by name. You're calling.
You're calling us to the cross.
You're calling. You're calling us to the cross.
You're calling. You're calling. The same love that set the captives free.
It's calling us all by name.
You're calling us to the cross. What if you could go back and relive?
One day it left you a million miles away from the you you once knew.
Now yesterday shame keeps saying that you'll never get back. But what if I told you?
You're one step away from surrender. One step away from coming home.
Coming home. It doesn't matter how far you've gone.
Mercy says you don't have to keep it running down the road. You're all. Love's never meant a lost cause.
Your shame will lay you down. Leave you cursed in the past. You know that you can't go back.
But you can turn around. You've never been more than. One step away from surrender.
One step away from coming home. Coming home.
One step from arms wide open. His love has never left you cold.
You're one step away.
One step away. Your old chains come now and take up your new name.
Your best life up ahead now. You're one step away.
Lay down, lay down your old chains. Come now and take up your new name.
Your old chains come now and take up your new name. Your best life up ahead now.
You're one step away. Lay down, lay down your old chains. Come now and take up your new name.
Your best life up ahead now. You're just one step away.
It feels like it went that fast. Lara, you're our oldest, our first one to take us through this process.
And from an early age, you've shown the ability to dream big and to work hard to make your dreams come true.
And at age four, you decided to build a tree house and grabbed every stick and scrap of wood you can find and nailed it together.
At nine, you decided to build a zip line with a rope and wire and a ladder and a tree.
And through all that, you showed the wisdom by encouraging your sister to be the test pilot. And we're just proud of you for all you've done.
I know this seems rather anticlimactic to you. You've been doing dual credit for the last two years.
So you've been doing college classes. You've achieved, what, 60 hours of credit? And you'll be starting nursing this fall at NIC.
So this is kind of two years too late or two years too early, but you've done some amazing things.
We're proud of you. Pauline, my daughter, my gifted daughter.
It's amazing we're here today, isn't it? About three years ago, I remember getting a call from your mother in distress with homeschooling.
And you guys were having a standoff. I got home real late that night. And I think it was over eight hours, no drinking, no eating, no bathroom breaks.
Your mom won, and we're here today. And I'd just like to say congratulations.
Oh, my word. Yeah. That was a battle over math.
Yeah. It was unbelievable. And I didn't know he was going to say that.
I am so nervous. Oh, my gosh. There's so many things I'd love to say about Aline, but about her life and all the details of homeschooling and stuff like that.
But I'm too nervous, and I'll start crying. So I wrote down something that I just want to share to Aline, and hopefully everybody will listen because it applies to everybody.
This is what I wrote. To our sweet Aline, we are so proud of the godly woman you are and that you are still learning to be.
We ask that every morning when you wake up, you praise our lord and savior. During your day, may you seek him and draw near to his will.
In times of trouble, we ask that you turn to our heavenly father for forgiveness, for strength, for courage, and that you will ask him to renew your spirit.
Continue to grow your relationship with him. Remember that his holy word is living water. It is life, and continue to study it.
No matter what you do, do it all to the glory of God. Do not waver, stand strong, and hold to his truth.
Do not get lost in the things of this world, for this is not our home. Look forward to his return, for he draws near.
Look and seek him always, and please remember who you are and that we love you.
The Great Protector Is that what I'm supposed to be?
What if all this counts for nothing? Everything I thought I'd be
What if by the time I realize It's too far behind to see?
70 mil projector I can show you everything
And we're on our way to glory Where the show won't ever end
And the encore lasts forever And it's time with you to spend
Spending the years together Growing older And I'll gladly say again
I hope the encore lasts forever Now it's time for us to spend
And it's sublime with you, my friend This right here still feels like a honeymoon
When you say my name Nothing's changed
I'm still a boy inside my mind Do you understand my fall?
I don't think so I don't think I'm meant to understand myself
Maybe you do And that's good for you
Maybe in time Maybe one day
I'll do the same I'll do the same as you
I'll try and hold it up Soon, I hope Or as soon as I'm old enough I've been searching for an answer
Always just out of reach Blood on the floor
Sirens repeat I've been searching for the courage
To face my enemies When they turn down the lines
I hear my battle symphony All the world in front of me
If my armor breaks I'll fuse it back together
Battle symphony Please just don't give up on me
For my battle symphony
Say that I've retreated
That I'm marching to the rhythm Of a lonesome defeat
But the sound of your voice Puts the pain in reverse
No surrender, no illusions And for better or worse
When they turn down the lines I hear my battle symphony
All the world in front of me If my armor breaks
Please just don't give up on me I hear my battle symphony
I'll fuse it back together Battle symphony
Please just don't give up on me Well, as you can tell from the slideshow, one of the most pressing difficulties with homeschooling
Liam was getting him to stay awake long enough to do school. And Liam, apart from the course of study that your mom laid out for you each and every year, you managed to achieve studying other subjects and other things that were far more interesting.
Sometimes those things would compete with what your mom laid out for you. But you managed to get all of that done.
And Liam has been able, over the last few years, to teach himself how to play instruments, like a guitar, build a computer.
And then you saw in the slideshow the Miata that he has, and has been his project for the last several months.
He's stripped the engine out of that and torn it all apart and is rebuilding that. Those are skills and abilities that I do not have, and so I could not have taught him how to do any of that.
And it is going to be interesting for your mom and I to see how the Lord uses those skills and abilities which he has given to you to glorify him.
So my charge is the same. Do all that you do for the glory of God, the big things and the small things, and live your life for his glory and for his sake, and you will be a life well lived.
Congratulations on the end of high school. This marks the end of an era for us as well, because we are done homeschooling, so...
That's it. Congratulations. Go after a professional speaker.
So thanks whoever did the lineup. Thank you for helping
Elyse as well. Deidre, it's been great. We've been super busy, and you've been...
I can't thank you enough. Thank you. God sent it as a good word. Yeah. I just want to talk to my daughter about a couple of the character traits that I've been thinking about this week and some things that I admire about you, and I hope you grow in continuing.
You're truthful. When you know something's right, you don't back down. You keep pressing forward, and I like that kind of tenacity, and I appreciate it.
When you speak the truth, you don't do it to build your own ego, and that's kind of rare. A lot of times people want to build up themselves when they're doing the right thing, and I just see you doing it, so I appreciate that.
You've got a great sense of humor. You can laugh at yourself when you do something dense. You own it.
You post it. Make sure everybody else knows what you did. So you can laugh at yourself.
You have a great laugh, a wonderful snort. I appreciate it. True story. You're a deep thinker.
You always have been. We have three older boys, and then we have Elise, and even as a little girl at the dinner table, the boys would be jibber -jabbering back and forth constantly, doing the wheel, and she'd just sit there and listen the whole time and just absorb things.
So she thinks deeply about things. She uses this to discern truth. I believe that this helps her make good decisions, and when she makes a decision, she is decisive.
So she wants a pickup truck? Get a pickup truck. No matter what Mama says, she wants her four -wheel drive, and I'm all for that.
Independent, you're not a follower. It's one of those character traits that is very rare, especially during teenage years.
You kind of just went your own path from going from homeschool to public school, a difficult thing, but to jump right into cheer,
I mean, you know, double tough, right? Tight -knit group of people to drag into, so I just hold you up for that.
And then faith. You have faith in your own abilities, like I said, jumping into cheer, but also
I see you seeking faith in the Lord, and I enjoy seeing you do that.
Okay? Love you, babe. I think he stole my phone and stole my notes.
I totally concur with everything he just said, and we did not talk about what we were going to say, but I did want to say a couple other things.
After three boys, I did not believe I could possibly have a girl, and I'm so glad I do.
She's probably my closest friend, and I trust her, and I admire her, and I respect her.
She did sit and listen at the table. I was going to say that, and she would observe and analyze and try to not do all the wrong things her brothers did, but she was the youngest to hop on a bike and hop on skis, and she saw something, she went for it, and like her dad said, no matter what
I said about a truck, she knows how to make good decisions, and I respect you and believe in you and admire you, and yeah,
I love you. And that's it. A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything turn, turn, turn There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose Of good and evil
A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones A time to gather stones together
A time of love, a time of hate A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace A time to refrain from embracing
To everything turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace I swear it's not too late
The plastic bag, drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in Do you ever feel, already buried deep
Six feet under screens, but no one seems to hear a thing Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine, just oh
Cause baby you're a flower, show them why
As you shoot across the sky No wasted space, you're original
Cannot be replaced, if you only knew What the future holds
After a hurricane, comes a rainbow Maybe a reason why, all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time you know You just gotta ignite the light
Come on, show them why
You earned it As you shoot across the sky
So, Amy.
Words that I thought of that describe Amy are creativity, color, enthusiasm, curiosity and she's also gentle, caring, and loving.
So Amy was our tomboy in a princess dress. She approached us live with her whole heart and I can best describe
Amy by describing to you a scene that Nick and I witnessed many times over the years. So picture
Amy, eight or nine years old, playing outside and she's wearing a colorful skirt. The more colors in it, the better.
And she's also wearing a brightly colored shirt which may or may not match her skirt. In her hair is a flower or ribbons or a scarf which are also colorful.
It doesn't matter if any of these items of clothing match only that there's as many colors as possible and to Amy's mind that they're beautiful.
So Amy, dressed in this colorful, beautiful outfit is outside running, singing, dancing, and twirling.
So that's Amy. Years later, Amy told me that she believed that if she sang and danced birds would come and land on her like Cinderella in the movie.
So she said, Mom, Disney lied to me. So Amy approaches learning with her whole heart too.
So anything she's interested in, she wants to know all about it and often she will read every book in the local library about that subject.
But most important, Amy has loved Jesus from a young age and we have just been so blessed to see that love blossom and deepen over the years.
So Amy, tonight as we celebrate your graduation from high school and as you officially move from child to young adult,
I just want to leave you with this verse which I pray will continue to guide you throughout your life. Trust in the
Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.
We love you and are so proud of you. Congratulations. All right, will you join with me as we close evening in prayer?
Let's pray. Father, you are the sovereign God and our times are in your hands and in your book was written all of our days before there was yet one of them.
And you being the sovereign God have a right to dispose of all of your creatures as you see fit. And we would just pray and ask that you would use the lives of these graduates here tonight to honor and glorify you in all that they do.
In big things and in small things, may they seek your honor, seek your majesty, seek your glory and your praise and live their lives in service to the great
King, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we commit them to you and in whose name we pray.
Amen. Well, this is our graduation ceremony and you are the graduates and you have graduated so you can now move your tassel.
And I present to you the Kootenai Community Church graduating class of 2021. Give them a round of applause.
[♪ music playing ♪ All right.
We do have some refreshments on the table back here so please feel free to hang around and enjoy those. And that concludes our service.