This fabulous, dreary-weather Sunday is pulling us in two directions. Restfulness and study time. Medicine is calling David's name, and I have the notes and lesson to complete for our study in Genesis this week. Boy, is God guiding me through submission (do not fear the word - it is good stuff) and trusting obediently in His plans. What a book!
David is feeling the pressure as he enters his last week until he takes his boards. Loved ones, if you think of us this week please pray for him to be able to focus and really churn through all of the material. And pray for me to be a good helper for him this week as he prepares. I won't even be in town when he takes it. I am flying out on Thursday for Wisconsin (brrrrr) and return Friday evening. Wish I could be there to send him off with a good breakfast and a hug - darn. :( The best I can do for now is replenish our depleted supply of Coke Zero (the morphine equivalent for David's book pains) and clear the shotgun path through our apartment in anticipation for his late-hour, nose-in-book pacings.
I did not have the opportunity to share his graduation days. My bad! It can be summarized into two words - blur and fantastic. It was a blur because of the timing. It followed Thanksgiving by only a week and a half. We had David's three buddies (John, Joseph and Adam) in the weekend before. And the day after the graduation activities came to a close, we hopped on a plane for a 3-week vacation in AR and AZ. I would have forgotten to breathe if my body didn't do it on it's own!
It was fantastic for a number of reasons. Starting with the hooding ceremony. Debbie, Mikel and Carolyn met me at the SLU campus for this small gathering on Thursday, December 12. The students, all wearing broad smiles of relief, received their hoods and off we went to a reception where they each stood before their class, family members and faculty to share their best memories and give thanks. This is a good shot of our handsome graduate with his new, shiny hood. Everyone cleans up nice, eh?
Now, we can all say we get a smidge nervous in regards to public speaking. I believe it is the worst when a family member is in the room or the worst yet - your peers. As it turns out, David's palm-sweating resistance to that entire portion of the event was a crazy front. He was great!. Who knew David had kept his entire class so entertained for 2.5 years? His polycystic kidney dream was a top memory for many and even a Halloween costume for a few. He had everyone laughing before they gave him the mic. So much for all the nervousness. What a front! He had us all in stitches in the first thirty seconds. And is it just me, or does he look extremely comfortable in front of this entire group?
As soon as it ended, we knew we were in a pickle. We had yet to finish packing to stay at Dave and Melissa's until Saturday and even more pressing, for our 2 week backpacking and Christmas trip to Arizona. Bless our hearts, we were fortunate to have found our socks and a tie for David that morning. Disarray! We had 20 minutes to stop by the house, create a cloud of luggage flurry, and blast over to the airport to pick Mom up and then join the rest of the family at the Dyess residence in Ellisville.
The next day was the larger ceremony. Ten of us convened in the bleachers to celebrate. Thanks, you guys! David got a bit choked up when they called his name and he heard us all cheering him on.
We are so thankful for your constant prayers, presence and encouragement throughout this whole process. God so knew we would need each of you and He so kindly blessed us to be here in St. Louis surrounded by family while we missed the rest of you in Arkansas, Arizona, New Hampshire and Texas.
Toodie and Frank Schaper
Melissa Dyess (Dave was there in spirit!)
Julie and Bill Newberry
Ignore my poofy jacket, people. The temperature dropped something silly (maybe 15 or 20 degrees) from when we left the front door to walking out of the ceremony, so David was sweet to let me borrow his jacket. I didn't realize I looked like an accessorized fullback until just now.
My mom (Sandy Morris), Carolyn Newberry and Debbie Morgan
(Behind the camera - Mikel Morgan)
Me and Mom with the grad - Mom, you are a gem for making the trip!!!
That evening David and I along with Mikel, Debbie, Mom and Carolyn headed to the graduation dinner and party. Call it exhaustion from the week or the entire program - after we ate and heartily embraced the candy bar, we did not last long. After all, we had some packing to do the next morning and a very sweet aunt and uncle were picking us up at 9:30 am...at our place...thirty minutes away...to go to the airport.
To give you a taste of the topic for my next post, I share with you evidence of our public humiliation by luggage. We'll never know if people laughed in our faces because of the sheer baggage volume or the Hefty trash bags. Either way, we fully own that we are one of two couples (the other shall remain unnamed and easily assumed) who require a luggage carrier for only two people.
Big hugs and love to all of you!
Missy Morgan
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