Derek graduates!!!!

Derek's story I read at his graduation party:

Your college journey began at George Fox, then Mat-Su College, then after we were married, we were both in college. After one semester of working and going to school it was just too much to keep up with the demands of both.
Of course in hindsight...if only we knew then how much harder it would be to do it all with a family. So, for a while you worked while I went to school.
After 7 yrs of working hard labor jobs, and three children later, we started to think about what would be a good career choice for you, for the long term.
You worked hard without complaining and were very good at what you did, at whatever you set your mind to.

After talking and praying, the desire to go to school came as an opportunity for you to choose a career and also to open up opportunities to make things better for our family and our future.

You started out with engineering, knowing that you were good at math and it made sense to you.
After a while, it became evident that the piece that was missing for you was your giftedness and desire to work with people.
After working many different places your desire and natural ability for management became more apparent, so that became the road you took.
Throughout this process, you had some important and significant people in your life who called out your giftings and your talents, they helped with the direction of your degree choice.

There are a few stand outs for the hardest semesters from my point of view. One being chemistry, with 12 hrs per week outside of class, it was one of your first classes and it was brutal for all of us. I am so glad that not every class after that took quite that much time. You got an A in that class too.
Your desire for excellence and putting forth all of your best effort came through from the start of this journey.
Another hard transition was beginning classes in Anchorage, which required more time away from home.
Another being last spring, it was definitely the hardest semester yet, with super demanding classes and lots of evening classes, we hardly saw each other.

You started a new job while in school, which made for an extra tough year last year as well. This led to our decision to take a lighter load this past fall, even if it meant finishing school a semester later than you had hoped.

The closer we got to the end, the harder it seemed to keep up excitement and momentum, so in the fall with only five classes left we toyed with the idea of you taking time off work, taking five classes and finishing up by the spring semester. It was a bold, courageous and exciting move.

We sold our van so that we had money to live and trusted the Lord to provide. Right off the bat, we had many unexpected expenses, yet money still kept coming in and we had more than enough to meet our needs. The way we were provided for made no sense on paper yet we have been continually so blown away and blessed!
I think we started out this journey thinking that even if a degree was just a piece of paper needed to get a certain job or position, you and I were willing to do it for the betterment of our family.
But walking through this journey with you I realize there is so much more to it than just that.
I have seen you change and grow in so many ways. The first being that you recognized that you are valuable, valuable enough that you were worth the time and money and sacrifice that comes along with going to with school and raising a family.

About 2 years into this journey you set out to take care if yourself at another level, losing 70 lbs and putting your health as a priority.

You have gained such a clear idea of who you are and what you're good at .
You have learned about persistence and determination. You have learned about people, conflict, sticking to things, making priorities, being specific and purposeful about how you spend your time.

You have put forth your best effort to get an incredible GPA with all the demands of life.

You have grown so much in your care of me and the kids, your attentiveness, your understanding. As much as school has pulled you away from home, your heart and your love has grown closer to home. Your quality of time with us keeps us going with not much quantity. You are always giving us your best effort and your love.

Here we are at the end of this adventure...unbelievable! I can't express how proud I am of you and how secure and provided for I feel with you.
I am proud of you for identifying , pursuing and chasing after your dreams, it is so exciting for me to see you getting to live some of them out right now.
This journey has opened up opportunities for you to walk out your dreams.
You have reached one of your goals and you are graduated at 30!

From the beginning you have allowed people to speak into your life. You have surrounded yourself with friends and mentors in abundance and look to them for support an encouragement , so many here tonight! You know who you are.
You have some incredible friends that continually speak into your life, as well as incredible family who does the same, you are believed in!!!!

NOw more than ever, you have a deep understanding of who you are and that is beyond value!
I look forward to investing time in each other our family and our friends. The opportunity cost has been great, but what we have is greater! Well done! This is a proud moment for all of us!