Tis the season of endings.. and new beginnings. No matter whether you have a graduate (of any grade level) in your household or your children are starting to wrap up another normal year, it's still a season of endings and new beginnings. 

As a church youth director, it's no different for me. Our Confirmation Celebration takes place this upcoming Sunday, so I've been tracking down families to get the appropriate information. These are students who have been in instruction for 3 years, asking the deep hard questions about faith, life, and God's love. 

The first Sunday of June hosts Graduate recognition, and we have continued our covid tradition of putting out a video as so many of our grads take off immediately after their university graduations and can't return to us in-person. So that means tracking down degree information, learning about what's going on in their lives via text, seeing beautiful joyful photos, and wishing them the best luck in their futures! 

Even for our smaller kids, they are still excited about the end of the school year. One of the Kindergarteners in my Sunday School class is counting down the days until she is no longer a Kindergarten student and will be a first-grader! Our district gets out June 09th so she still has a few days, but each Sunday she comes in with the new number! As I heard last night while visiting a family for dinner, our older teens are excited about the upcoming summer and slowing down a bit after their hectic year of trying to fit all the academics, social events, extracurriculars, and starting to think about future decisions.

Y'all, it's been a wild and crazy school year. I know you are exhausted. Heck, I'm exhausted, and I don't have children in my own home to chase around (just the dozens around church life)! I hope that you take this time to think about the endings and beginnings in your home. How have your children grown? Physically, of course, as evidenced by all those pieces of clothing that no longer fit, but also spiritually, emotionally, and personally? How have you grown?

Every year during this time, I end up reflecting upon my own bitter-sweet celebrations and the people that were there and not there during my own endings and beginnings. I encourage you, if those folks are still in your life and are alive and well, thank them for how they have shaped and formed you. I have been sending cards to a special 90-something that was integral in my own college formation. I know that he loves hearing from me and I love hearing from him. I also know that as he continues to age, he won't be around forever, and so I want to thank him while I have the chance. I hope you do the same!

Happy end of school year (even if you still have a few weeks left up north!)