A letter to the class of 2021

We cheered on so many ServeHere Alumni this past month as they graduated and could not be more proud of each and every one of you. So our Executive Director wrote you a letter...

Dear Graduates,

Look at you. You have made it to the end of your time in college. Many of us in seasons ahead of you look at you and wish you didn’t have to walk through some of the things you have… that impulse is fear. When I take the time to pray for you, to put that fear aside… I feel something completely different. Hope.

While I am sorry for some of the things you have endured, certainly for some of the hardship you have watched unfold.. I am also so grateful for what you have lived through the last 18 months. Because now I can look directly to you, with all of the confidence we can muster up, and say : YOU WERE made TO LEAD TODAY. RIGHT NOW. With the tragedy, beauty, curiosity and confusion you have faced, you are leading us forward.

And I am so glad it’s you.

I have seen you step into a space that rejects division and easy answers. You have wrestled, shaken, laughed, prayed, and served. I’m not just trying to encourage you from a place of mentorship, these words I am saying… these words are coming from a place of submission. Yes, I am a season or two ahead of you. I’m leading the way right now for a while. But do you want to know how invested I am in you? … I am trusting you with my kids. I believe in you based on what I have witnessed God do through you… and now, I am saying to you. You were chosen for the job. Lead them well.

God is not concerned with your career or trajectory, he is concerned with how much of your day- every day- you you will trust him with. He is ready to shepherd you through a life anchored in Him, wherever you are. You are the one in any office who will bring gentleness, justice, and friendship to the people in the corner. You are the one who will give generously, sacrifice comforts, and reject idols. You are the leaders who will stand in the gap, following the ways of Jesus. Simply Jesus, and nothing else.

I am so proud of you.
I believe in you.
Your gifts are on purpose.
Everything is going to be okay.

Iesha Boitmann