Graduate

 

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13-14

I am so very proud of our oldest son, Elliott, and all of his friends as they prepare to graduate from Hardin Valley Academy this evening.  We have had a great weekend celebrating Elliott with family and friends and just
witnessing the excitement from these young men and women reminded me of how I once felt graduating from high school; the excitement mixed with a little fear of the unknown about college and beginning a new chapter in my life...

I remember it like it was yesterday when I graduated from Springwood School back in 1993.  Those were certainly some exciting and memorable times.  I had been accepted to Auburn University and the one thing I knew for sure was the size of the college campus was 20 times bigger than what I was accustomed to at my small private school.  My orientation was interesting as I was bunched in with several hundred freshman and we all were given a tour of the campus.  We also attended a class to prepare us for the days that were to come. We learned how to register for classes, where to eat on campus, how to find the library, and were issued our student tickets for football, baseball, and basketball. 

When all of the student body had returned from summer break, the parking situation was pure madness and I felt a bit lost among the throngs of students on campus.  No matter how early I left for classes, I could never seem to find a parking space, so I racked up several parking violations my first quarter and my parents were not happy with me, to say the very least.  To be quite honest, the orientation was helpful, but I had to learn an awful lot as I went along.  I pledged a fraternity my first quarter and many of my Pi Kappa Phi brothers helped teach me what I needed to know about college life on The Plains.

While high school graduation is the end of a chapter of a young man or woman’s life, it is by no means their final destination.  Even after college, when the milestones are fewer and far between, we must all learn to ‘press on’ toward the goal that Paul mentioned in the above letter to the Philippians. 

As followers of Christ, we must make a daily commitment to walk with the Lord, understanding that we will never learn too much by attending church or reading Scripture to earn a diploma of sorts.  Regardless, we can be at peace knowing where our final destination is-heaven, and that is the ultimate goal/prize for all believers in Jesus Christ!

Wait For You

 

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  Psalm 37:5

The older I become, the more I understand that God's ways are not my ways and that I sometimes must wait patiently before He sends His blessings.  Our boys are growing up way too fast...Elliott will be graduating from high school in a few days while Elijah is finishing his freshman year and is quickly approaching his 16th birthday this August. 

When I stop to look back at how fast time has flown by, it has made me acknowledge the season of waiting I was in for the better part of the boys' first years on this earth.  

Five months into 2026, and during this crazy busy time both personally and professionally, I am now in a much different season now as a father, but I have learned yet another valuable lesson in learning to trust God fully and completely while patiently waiting for His many blessings.

When we refuse to trust God with our needs, we will continue to live in panic, chaos, and fear because we do not cry out to the One who can meet our needs.  Jesus' disciples learned to trust Him on the Sea of Galilee during a frightening storm that had each one convinced that they would not survive.  Jesus walked across the water and commanded the storm to be still and the sea quickly became calm again.

If you do not trust the Lord, then who do you trust?  Jesus is waiting with His arms outstretched for you and will lift you up despite the tempestuous circumstances you may find yourself facing.

Success Yourself

 

The Holy Spirit...bears us up in our weakness.  Romans 8:26

Our youngest son is a freshman in high school and sometimes goes to great lengths to 'fit in' with some of his upper classman friends; especially some of  teammates on the lacrosse team.  As adults, it’s not too much different for us either.  Think of how many people project false images of themselves through social media each and every day.

The truth of the matter is that I am tired of playing games and trying to be someone that I am not. There is a lot of freedom in just being accepted as we are without being facing the pressures of being someone we simply are not.

God wants us to accept ourselves for who we are, and wants us to actually like who we are, despite our weaknesses. Everyone has weaknesses, but we must realize that God will never reject us because of them.

We must also be careful of placing too much value on our weaknesses because we will then underestimate our value. Our worth is not based on anything good or bad that we have ever done/are doing/will do, but on what God has already done.

We were purchased at a high price and yes we have all disappointed God, but God will never abandon us because He loves us just the way we are. So tell Satan to 'stuff it' the next time he tries to convince you that you don't measure up to someone else’s standards!

Under Control

 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-which is your spiritual worship.  Romans 12:1

Both of our sons used to be into a variety of different things when they were younger; Pokémon, Nintendo, Marvel and DC superheroes, and anything sports related (i.e. football and basketball).  Transformers were (and in my book still are) 'all the rage' in the Fisher household and can be somewhat complex for younger children to transform.  While the Transformers are totally awesome, the ones they make nowadays are sometimes even difficult for an old veteran like me to actually transform from a vehicle or aircraft mode to a robot and back... 

Just the other day, I was reminiscing about helping our youngest son transform his vast collection of robots (when he was in elementary school) and how he became so impatient with me being so delicate as not to break.  I remember vividly telling him to be careful as he was forcing the plastic toy to where it would eventually break if he was not more careful.  After repeated attempts, he managed to break the arm off of one of the Autobots (the good Transformers) and was very disappointed.  I was eventually able to repair his broken toy and was also provided with the wonderful opportunity of teaching our son a valuable lesson.  In fact, I learned a little lesson from this incident as well…

You see, if you are like me, you have no problem giving God control over the ‘big’ or ‘important’ areas of your life.  I struggle, at times, to give God control over the small and day-to-day things.  I can face a number of situations and foolishly try and convince myself, “ You've got this, Will” or ”I can handle this on my own, God” and end up royally screwing everything up along the way.  Just like our son did with his broken toy, I will proceed to turn things over to God so that He can fix or repair the same things I thought I had under control. 

We must ask God to take control of our lives each and every day. One we have admitted our powerlessness and inability to manage our lives, we must come to a place in our faith where we decide to turn our will and lives over to God’s loving care.

Acknowledge the need for God’s guidance in our lives.  When He becomes our new manager, we must also choose to accept life on His terms as well.  God offers us a way to live that is free from our past, allowing us to enjoy new and wonderful experiences in accordance to His good and perfect will for our lives.  Thanks be to God!

The Road

 

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.  Ephesians 4:13

Our two boys, are growing up way too fast.  It's hard for me to believe that our youngest, Elijah, will be celebrating his 16th birthday this summer and driving soon, while our oldest,  Elliott, is about to graduate from high school. Both just started their high school lacrosse season, and I am a very proud father as HVA won their first game.

Along the lines of a tourney or a game, what if a believer’s walk of faith was determined with a grading system or final score?  How would we measure up?

A believer’s perfection is not a flawless imitation of God but rather a process of maturing into a purer and more godly person.  Growing in godliness means becoming more like God, even when we fall way short of his perfect standards, and believe me when I say that quite often I fail to measure up.  

Let us remember that the process of reflecting more and more of God’s nature will be completed when we reach heaven, and then indeed we will finally be considered ‘perfect.’

Picking Up The Pieces

 

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.  Psalm 147:3

With two young men in high school, both student athletes that play hard, and at times can be somewhat accident prone which tends to lead to the usual scrapes and bruises and injuries that come from being boys. Of course both of our boys have made trips to urgent care centers a few times over the past few years, but I digress. 

There aren't too many minor injuries that cannot be healed by a Band-Aid and an ice pack or a laugh, but just thinking about the way we as parents tend to our children’s wounds is very similar to the way that God tends to ours as well.

God actually tends to our physical wounds and pains just as He heals our emotional wounds too.  There is no sickness, injury, or pain that the Great Physician cannot heal.

When God performs His healing in our lives, we find joy and others will rejoice in our healing.

Thanks be to God!!

Fear Of The Dark

 

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to Hus purpose for them.  Romans 8:28

Our youngest son, when he was much younger, was scared of the dark.  In can recall many nights trying to convince him to sleep through the night without a lamp on in his room. Through deductive reasoning, would often times point out some items to give him peace of mind.  For starters, our old master bedroom was right across the great room/kitchen.  No one would have been able to sneak past our master bedroom without us hearing it.  We also had a security system that was armed at night before bedtime, so it was highly unlikely that someone would have entered our home without triggering the alarm.   

All of these things are solid safety precautions but regardless, we still had to leave a light on in the hallway most nights to get Elijah to go to bed at nighttime.  This reminds me of the way many believers sadly live their lives as well; in fear. 

We have no reason to live in fear once we understand that Jesus died on the cross to spare us from eternal punishment and the free gift of eternal life puts the troubles of this world into perspective.

We can live with peace of mind knowing that our eternal futures are secure.

No matter what happens to us in this lifetime, we can have peace knowing that the trials and troubles we face won’t last forever…