This week was a beautiful one. I have been Bonus-Mom for nearly five years. I met my bonus daughter on her 13^th birthday and this week she graduated from high school. This milestone is one that many keep-sake in their memories for life. It is the right of passage into adulthood. It solidifies the value of the many years of schedules, bells, and homework. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance will always be worth it.

But as this week’s graduation festivities carried on, my soul was burdened with many realizations.

Did I do enough with the time the Lord gave me to help train, guide, and point her to Christ as her Savior? Was the Gospel lived out before her eyes in our home? Does she know Christ deeply and personally? Does she love God’s Word?

These are the things that my mind kept going back to. If you read my last blog about the forever things—these are the forever things.

Graduating kindergarten, high school, and college are noteworthy accomplishments. Setting academic and sports goals has a purpose and promotes character and discipline. Receiving recognition and honor for your hard work is gratifying. But these are not the forever things.

My mind has wrestled that this sweet season is coming to an end. I’m asking the Lord for much grace as we enter a new season with her spreading her wings from this nest. As she soars, I think I’ll want these years back.

If you’re a mom in a similar season, I pray you know you’re not alone.

My prayer is for her and all of my young sister’s-in-Christ to remember the forever things… the things that matter to our eternal life with Christ.

If I could write each of my young sister’s-in-Christ a letter—it would go something like this…

Dear Young Sister-in-Christ,

You may not realize it right at this moment, but your young life will soon experience many uncharted territories. The pressure of peers doesn’t end in the halls of high school. Temptations will be lurking close by as you venture into this next chapter. The world will tell you lies that compromising your conduct, your dress code, and your purity are not a big deal. Do not fall for these lies. The world will attempt to redefine what it means to love and be loved. Do not entertain this redefinition of love. In a world that declares purity, prudence, and holiness as old and outdated, I pray you stand strong in these godly virtues. In a world where “truth” lives in the grey and people carry multiple “truths” I encourage you to know and love THE Truth—God’s Holy Word.

If you are blessed to have parents who shared the Gospel with you and lived it out daily, I pray that their example has shown you the power of Christ and the beauty of being sanctified through this life, daily.

I pray you set yourself apart from the ways of the world quickly and joyfully as you enter your adult years. This task is easy to say, but much more difficult to do. I pray the Holy Spirit equips you to do this as your circles of influence grow. I pray if mockery stems from this setting apart, that you joyfully turn the other cheek and walk as the Lord has instructed us to in His Word.

I pray the Lord keeps you close and repentance quickly follows any sin. I pray you hallow the Lord’s Name, His Word, and His perfect ways. I pray the Lord continues to reveal His sovereignty in your life and in the gift of your salvation.

We live in a culture that recommends self-care living over biblical self-sacrifice and serving. As Daughters of Christ, we must not fall into this me-centered trap that endorses so much worth on our exterior but neglects the soul and mind. I encourage you to reject the boss-babe culture and be a woman of the Word.

God’s Word is life-giving and life-sustaining, I pray you never forget this. I pray you love His law and His Word. I pray you crave His Word as if it were a feast that you look forward to daily and gain the most nutrients from.

I pray you seek God with your whole heart as His Word commands.

“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,” (Psalm 119:2 ESV)

“But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul,” (Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV)

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near,” (Isaiah 55:6 ESV).

I pray you regard knowing God as the most significant blessing of your life.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law,” (Psalm 119:18 ESV)

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,” (John 17:3 ESV)

“I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart,” (Jeremiah 24:7 ESV)

I pray you are transformed by the ardent, never-ceasing, boundless love of God through Christ Jesus.

“…In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the Beloved,” (Ephesians 1:4-6 ESV)

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV)

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins,” (1 John 4:10 ESV)

I pray you aim to grow in your trust relationship with the Lord all the days of 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 make straight your paths,” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting rock,” (Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV)

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God,” (Psalm 20:7 ESV)

I pray you have a passion for studying scripture, obeying scripture, praying, worshiping with your whole life, serving others, and sharing the Gospel—all motivated by a desire to know God, love God, share God, enjoy God, and glorify God. Spiritual disciplines are essential for the Believer and should be rooted in a deep love for Christ. When we consistently feed ourselves the Truth of scriptures, we are guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Because of this, when our lives experience adverse circumstances, we know God’s overwhelming grace will sustain us. Because we know His Word, we know He is sovereign and He is good. Always.

When the Lord awakened us to the truth about our sinful state and our desperate need for a Savior—Jesus Christ—and drew us to faith and repentance— it transformed us forever. With this most epic, glorious, death-to-life-transformation, our perspective of life and time should be radically altered to reflect eternity. In a world that accolades boss babes and selfish living, we should be humbled at the reality of what is at stake for all…life or death…for eternity. With this knowledge it should grow our joy in the Lord and increase our passion to share the Gospel with zeal and compassion.

I pray your heart’s cry will forever be that of the Psalmist:

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word,” (Psalm 119:15-16 ESV).

Ardently His,

Jess Dennis

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