5 Weeks Away!

 

HAPPY GRADUATION DAY!!!! 

For this special day marking your graduation, I wanted to share with you the prayers that I wrote and shared at the graduate hooding ceremony yesterday. 

Opening Prayer

Gracious God,

As we get to the end of another school year

and celebrate this milestone.

we pause—exhausted, relieved, grateful.

We’ve carried so much:

PLNs, IPC, DAs, (and all the alphabet soup of the SPU SOE)

lesson plans and countless emails,

early mornings and late nights,

student stories that stayed with us long after the day was done.

We’ve coached, encouraged, adapted,

held the line and held the hearts.

We stretched ourselves in ways unseen,

and gave more than we thought we had.

Now, as the final days drift near,

we’re holding the tension—

between pride in what’s been accomplished,

and the ache of all that remains unfinished.

The progress. The perseverance.

The sacred, unseen work of forming minds and spirits.

God, help us to honor it all—

not just the visible outcomes,

but the deep investments of presence and care.

Give us the grace to anchor ourselves in the present moment

and to delight in the people in our midst today.

Bless this time and be with us now.

Amen.

Closing Prayer

God, as we close this school year, these graduates will pack up all their lesson plans, reflection papers, and classroom memories.

But you, O God, see what they carry in their hearts: joy, exhaustion, hope, anxiety, pride, uncertainty, and deep compassion.

They are a beautiful mix of ready and unsure, bold and tender, determined and wide-eyed.

As they look toward their first classrooms, remind them of your faithfulness every morning—no matter what the day brings.

As they search for a school that feels like home, remind them you are already there, walking with them into each unknown.

As they long to make an impact, remind them how you feed souls with just a little bread and a willing heart.

Remind them how you bring life out of what feels broken, hope out of disappointment, and possibility out of lessons they thought they failed.

When insecurity, comparison, fatigue, and failure knock at their door,

may they begin to understand this is part of becoming.

They are not doing it wrong.

They are simply human.

May they be quick to listen, open to reflection, and swift to forgive themselves and others.

Weave wisdom into the fabric of who they are—sowing the fruit of patience, courage, humility, clarity, contentment, and joy.

May they not despise their limits,

but rather embrace them as reminders to lean on you.

May they not fear missteps,

but rather learn to dance in the midst of them.

May they not be quick to judge,

but curious and compassionate instead.

Help them find kindred spirits and marigolds in staff rooms and lunchrooms.

Help them be the teacher who sees every child and helps each one feel seen.

Help them find their voice—and use it to speak life, advocate for justice, and tell the truth in love.

Let their eyes see with compassion, equity, and wonder.

To our amazing graduates we are celebrating today:

And let them remember:

whatever was done in love will remain.

Amen.