She did it ! !

Underneath an enormous tent pavillion protected from a May sun with obvious ambitions to be an August sun, Claremont-McKenna College celebrated the graduation of the class of 2008. Two hundred and thirty or so different people making the rite of passage from experimenting students to practicing adults -- our Rebecca among them.

Two grandmothers, a great-aunt, two great-uncles, a brother and two proud parents, gathered from the Pacific Northwest, southern California and Africa, joined the festivities. Friday afternoon we met some of Reba's close friends and their parents. Brittany Ruiz, another accounting major and Reba's dorm mate, was there with her parents. (Reba and Brittany will be looking for an apartment together in the Pasadena area in August.)

Meeting Professor Mark Massoud, Reba's advisor on both academic and spiritual matters, again was a particular blessing. For four years we have laid Reba in the Lord's hands when our own hands were too far away to be any practical use. Dr. Massoud is just one instrument of God -- guiding and encouraging Reba, giving her a picture of a committed Christian life, and charging her to follow the Lord herself.

For years, a valiant prayer warrior we know, Doris Templeton, has included Reba and Mark on her prayer list. She prays they would know the Lord in a deep way, meet other young people with wholesome and Christ-filled lives, and grow to be the people God wants them to be. We saw the fruit of those prayers this weekend -- Christian friends and mentors, Reba's achievements marked by a diploma and prospects for the future. Thank you, Lord.

Reba starts an internship in June with the Los Angeles Urban Project, a Christian outreach to marginalized people in the Pasadena area. In August she and Brittany start house hunting. And in September Reba plunges into the real world of auditing with the Pasadena office of the McGladrey and Pullen auditing firm. Way to go, Reba!!!