Grad

We went to another Graduation open house last night. I remember when Grad first began coming up for the time with the children. He was the youngest of 3, and his older brother and sister were quiet and retiring. Not Grad. The first time he spoke (he was about 4), I did a double take. Was this little boy related to those two little angels? Grad was definitely not an angel.

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He was part of the rowdiest confirmation class I ever taught. At one point he had his cell phone under the table dialing up his fellow confirmands. A word with his parents put a stop to that. "You ratted me out!" Once his brother and sister graduated from youth group, Grad became a leader. During one discussion he said, "Remember why we're here. This is a church group, and we are talking about God and having discussions. That's not appropriate." The idea was immediately dropped by the other kids.

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Husband and Wife were his neighbors (they lived about a mile away). After Husband went into the nursing home, Wife started hiring Grad to do odd jobs around the house. At first Grad was shy, but then he began to open up and show his sense of humor. They formed a wonderful relationship. Grad goes to visit her occasionally in the nursing home, and has taken his girl friend along a couple of times. He wants to continue the family farming tradition, and wants to live in Husband and Wife's house. It is set back off a lane and overlooks the woods. They don't have much acreage, but it looks like it will be sold (eventually) to Grad and his family. Wife is thrilled to think that Grad will live there and raise a family. Grad loves that house, and is excited about it, too.

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In March of this year I asked Grad to be the Prodigal Son in a dialogue sermon. His brother had already agreed to be the older brother. I told him to look at it as a deposit on the wonderful letter of reference I'd write for him at some point. He informed me he didn't need a reference from me before agreeing to do the part. Wife told me he asked her to write a letter of reference for him. She was delighted. Last night I commended him on his visits with Wife, and told him Husband had been in the hospital, and once things calmed down, it would be nice if he could visit her. He promised he would. I teased him about using her for a reference instead of me. He smiled. "I didn't know if she could do it. If she couldn't, I was going to ask you."

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I'm going to graduation tomorrow. He's salutatorian and I want to hear his speech. Four of our kids are graduating from that high school, so I will go cheer them on. I told him I'd be there. He smiled. If I do move, I will miss these people. I would love to officiate at Grad's wedding and baptize his children some day. For now, though, I'm going to celebrate the little boy who said inappropriate things during the time with the children and grew into a fine, caring young man. It's been a joy to watch.