Written by:
Brennen Hogg | Interim Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries

There’s something sweet about a season of celebration. For the youth, this looked a lot like a high school graduation, senior prom, a sweet 16th birthday, or even a performance or event that took hard work and effort. In my own life, it looked like a college graduation and a trip to Paris with my best friend to celebrate. There is something special about celebrating hard work and getting to do so with the people in your life who mean the most to you.

During a time of social distancing, seasons of celebration look a little different. For our youth it looks like online graduations and finishing up school from home. For our healthcare and frontline workers, it looks like putting their lives on hold and taking care of others well into the unforeseeable future. For me, it looks like a postponed trip and commencement ceremony and finishing up my semester from home.

I was supposed to graduate from college last week and instead of a big party and commencement ceremony, my friends and family surprised me with a neighborhood parade. They decorated their cars with signs, balloons and posters. They obnoxiously honked the horns on their cars and yelled their congratulations and love through the windows of their cars. It was overwhelming and emotional to stand in my driveway and wave to the people who mean the most to me while they did their best to be a part of this season of celebration.

If there’s one thing that Covid-19 can teach us, it’s the importance of seasons of celebration. If I’m being honest, my graduation day was not how I always imagined it to be. The graduation day of these high school seniors will not be how they’ve always imagined it to be either. The trouble with expectations is that a lack of such can lead to disappointment. The outcome lies purely in our mindset. When I look back and think about my college graduation, I get to remember how I felt watching my loved ones rally in an outside-the-box way during this season of celebration. The joy of a season of celebration can still be felt, even if it looks different than how we’ve always imagined. Let’s take note of the love surrounding us and allow that to consume us during our own seasons of celebration.