Dearest Class of 2020-
I’m sorry that this year hasn’t turned out the way you’d hoped and dreamed it would over the last four years. You are probably grieving many losses right now. Maybe COVID-19 has put
someone you love in the hospital or taken his or her life. Maybe your parents’ jobs have been affected and your family is feeling significant financial strain. Your spring sport or musical was cancelled.
Your senior prom—poof, gone. Your school’s graduation or your grad party has been postponed. You miss your friends. You miss the freedom of not having to “stay home.†You miss youth group. Maybe you don’t like online school. You miss hugs and high fives, and it all causes a great deal of uncertainty—a roller coaster of emotions. Some days may be easier than others for you to stay positive, keep the faith, and accept that things haven’t turned out as planned. Other days, you might wrestle with disappointment, doubt, grief, anxiety, fear, depression, or exhaustion.
Did you know that Jesus’ disciples experienced many of these same emotions that you are facing right now? Yes, you are living in an unprecedented time in history. And, yet, you are not alone in the struggle.
Even though Jesus told them many times in many ways, Jesus’ disciples got the wind knocked out of them, too, when He was arrested, crucified, and buried. They rode the roller coaster, too. It was all so sudden and unexpected. Their best friend, their mentor, their Lord, was taken from them in the most brutal fashion. And they didn’t remember what He had told them—what we now know was coming: Easter. To them, all hope seemed lost. They were living in the in-between like you are now.
So, our hope is that in the midst of the isolation, wrestling, and boredom of this pandemic, this devotional will help you do two things: grieve the losses and bring you closer to Jesus.
Each day as you read the Bible passage about an emotion that Jesus' disciples expe- rienced, reflect on the questions given and let Jesus refine your thinking as you jour- nal in the lines provided. Let this time propel you to reach out and apply what you've read--in your own life and in the lives of others.
May your faith rise up, seniors. May hope abound. May you seize this opportunity to be transformed by the Holy Spirit into a treasure that declares the glory of God to your neigh- bors and to the nations!
We would love to honor you this graduation season too! On May 17, 2020 we will be having a special video honoring our graduates. If you would like to participate please send 3 pictures - 1 baby picture, 2 middle school picture and 3 your grad picture. Please send these by May 10 to brandon@parkviewfamily.org.
We are in this together, class of 2020.
Brandon Starnes
Students & Connections Pastor
someone you love in the hospital or taken his or her life. Maybe your parents’ jobs have been affected and your family is feeling significant financial strain. Your spring sport or musical was cancelled.
Your senior prom—poof, gone. Your school’s graduation or your grad party has been postponed. You miss your friends. You miss the freedom of not having to “stay home.†You miss youth group. Maybe you don’t like online school. You miss hugs and high fives, and it all causes a great deal of uncertainty—a roller coaster of emotions. Some days may be easier than others for you to stay positive, keep the faith, and accept that things haven’t turned out as planned. Other days, you might wrestle with disappointment, doubt, grief, anxiety, fear, depression, or exhaustion.
Did you know that Jesus’ disciples experienced many of these same emotions that you are facing right now? Yes, you are living in an unprecedented time in history. And, yet, you are not alone in the struggle.
Even though Jesus told them many times in many ways, Jesus’ disciples got the wind knocked out of them, too, when He was arrested, crucified, and buried. They rode the roller coaster, too. It was all so sudden and unexpected. Their best friend, their mentor, their Lord, was taken from them in the most brutal fashion. And they didn’t remember what He had told them—what we now know was coming: Easter. To them, all hope seemed lost. They were living in the in-between like you are now.
So, our hope is that in the midst of the isolation, wrestling, and boredom of this pandemic, this devotional will help you do two things: grieve the losses and bring you closer to Jesus.
Each day as you read the Bible passage about an emotion that Jesus' disciples expe- rienced, reflect on the questions given and let Jesus refine your thinking as you jour- nal in the lines provided. Let this time propel you to reach out and apply what you've read--in your own life and in the lives of others.
May your faith rise up, seniors. May hope abound. May you seize this opportunity to be transformed by the Holy Spirit into a treasure that declares the glory of God to your neigh- bors and to the nations!
We would love to honor you this graduation season too! On May 17, 2020 we will be having a special video honoring our graduates. If you would like to participate please send 3 pictures - 1 baby picture, 2 middle school picture and 3 your grad picture. Please send these by May 10 to brandon@parkviewfamily.org.
We are in this together, class of 2020.
Brandon Starnes
Students & Connections Pastor