The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming by Sally Clarkson & Sarah Clarkson

Author:Sally Clarkson & Sarah Clarkson [Clarkson, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Life / Family, RELIGION / Christian Life / Inspirational, RELIGION / Christian Life / Women's Issues
ISBN: 9781496403391
Publisher: Tyndale Momentum
Published: 2016-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

With all this in mind, we created our first home commencement ceremony for Sarah, our firstborn. We would repeat it in more or less the same form for each of our children.

Though my description of this ritual may seem a bit long, it never really felt that way to us. Our children enjoyed having different friends participate by reading Scriptures or even making presentations. Having a company of witnesses, so to speak, surrounding them and believing in them was deeply meaningful. All of our children have considered this special day a rite of passage and wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Here’s a summary of the ceremony as we developed it for Sarah and adapted it for each of our children:

Opening Scripture and remarks. Our ceremony always opened with a reading from the book of Jeremiah: “‘I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (29:11). We then specifically reminded Sarah that God had created her uniquely (see Psalm 139), that He would always be with her wherever she went (see Deuteronomy 31:8), that God had uniquely prepared her for good works to do in her lifetime according to her personality, design, and skills (see Ephesians 2:10).

Speech from the graduate. Next came a little speech from Sarah in which she told about her hopes, dreams, and ideas for the future.

Special music. Because each of our children learned an instrument to play or practiced their skills at songwriting (after their dad, who is a songwriter), we always had a solo or musical presentation. Sarah played a warm, Celtic-flavored piano piece she had composed. (Clay used to love listening to Sarah play the piano and called it his “Sarapy”—or Sarah therapy.)

Sharing memories. Each person in the group was asked to share a memory or a blessing for the child being celebrated.

Presentation of commencement gifts and comments. Extending gifts to remind them of our values, traditions, love, and unique heritage as Clarksons was a fun part of our celebrations—each gift wrapped up with paper and bows and presented with appropriate Scriptures and an explanation of its symbolism. (For instance, a small oil lamp would be a reminder for them to keep the light of Christ burning and to take it out into a dark world.) Clay and I always had a wonderful time picking these gifts out. For a list of the ones we used, please see the resource section at www.lifegivinghome.com.

Prayers for the graduate. Each person who had come to share this time with us was encouraged to offer a brief prayer for Sarah as she entered a new and exciting season of life with the Lord.

Closing song and benediction. For graduations, we liked to sing David “Beaker” Strasser’s wonderful song, “Step by Step.”

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