High school graduation season arrives this week. When my son walks across the stage, receives his diploma with his left hand and shakes with his right, one era of his life will come to a close and another will begin.

At the same moment, an unwelcome friend called "Age" will wrap two arms around me and whisper in my ear, "Yes, you are old enough to have a high school graduate." My only defense: memories.

Birth. Walking. The bike. Tonsils. Father-son camps. Throwing the football. Learning to drive. And, most vividly, the first day of high school. Anyone in children's ministry will love this story:

Four years ago, God clearly directed our family to move from our home of 15 years in the Chicago area to Michigan. Kingdom adventures always sound so exciting. And then reality arrives.

We unpacked in our Michigan home three days before school started; my son's freshman year of high school. While the timing of our new chapter in life worked great for me, the timing did not work as well for my kids. ...