Dear Class of 2020,

Wow. I know none of us expected to be in this situation. None of us thought our last quarter of high school would go this way. There are so many thoughts, emotions, and feelings I want to convey to you all. For right now though,  I will attempt to keep it short and sweet.

I know most of us are probably confused, frustrated, and angry. We wanted to enjoy our last few moments as MCA students together. We wanted to share our stories and emotions from missions week with each other. We wanted to hear about our future plans as we film our senior videos. We were excited to spend one last dance as a class at Prom. And the thought of finally getting to walk that stage after all our hard work, excited us and gave us the motivation to finish the year strong. Now here we are. All of those things are up in the air. All the things that seemed for sure now have question marks by it. I don’t know what is going to happen. But what I do know is this: our God is a loving, kind, and faithful God who has all of our stories written out the way they are supposed to be. Which may be different than what you would’ve thought out or planned because I know I never would’ve dreamt or imagined this. You have every right to be upset, no one is taking that away from you. You have every right to be mad, to be scared, to be frustrated no one is taking that away from you. But I would encourage you to turn all those feelings into prayer. Believe me, as one in your shoes, I know exactly what you are feeling. Sitting here, waiting for time to pass just so you could hopefully wake up to an email saying that everything will be back to normal. Oh, how I wish that was how this worked. Instead, the hours go by at turtle pace waiting around for nothing to happen. As we continue into the unknown, taking this day by day, week by week, I encourage you to fill what feels like time wasted into time spent in prayer and meditation. God is the only one who can ease the anxiousness and fears. You may find temporary peace and comfort in binging Netflix, but that will not carry you through this time without fear. God is waiting with arms open wide for us to run to Him with our frustrations, our anger, our doubts, and our fears. He wants to comfort you and bring you peace that transcends all understanding. Rest assured in Jesus and the hope you have that He will carry you through all the darkness. Take advantage of this opportunity to grow as a Christ-follower.

During this time, I would also encourage you to reach out to those around you, especially your fellow classmates. Now more than ever, it is crucial we check in on one another. Stay connected, whether that’s through a text message or a FaceTime call. We owe it to one another to make sure each of us feels loved and cherished during a time where we are surrounded by darkness. So Mustangs, the choice is yours: you can either use this time to sit in reflection and thankfulness of what the Lord has done and will continue to do in your life or you can go through the motions and fill the minutes with the things of this world. I know I had a lot to say, and you may not follow everything I said, which is okay but from one senior to another I hope you can feel the love and gratitude I have for each of you. I would not be the same person without the impact each of you has had on my life, and I am proud to be in the class of 2020. No matter the challenges or tribulations, God will carry us through. Keep your eyes set on things above, and go Mustangs.

Sincerely,

Lauren Rose