By Bethany Riehl
To the class of 2026,
Please indulge me for one issue while I try to get a grip on myself process the graduation of my oldest from high school. They warned me it would go fast and they were right. Eighteen years of life and thirteen years of school flew by.
I’m sure you are feeling the same way, Graduate. It went fast, didn’t it? And life will continue on that way—agonizingly slow sometimes, and yet time will simultaneously sweep you along as if you’re caught in a rip current. It’s simply how it is—wonderful and terrifying.
As you might have learned by now, or simply heard, the cliché is true: hindsight is 20/20.
As such, I’ve been thinking, if I could go back and tell myself a few things about what was important at graduation, knowing what I know now, what would I say? And would I listen?
I can’t go back and talk to myself, but I can talk to you. Whether you listen or not is up to you.
- Get into the Word and get the Word in you. Read the Bible daily, immerse yourself in it, study it, memorize it. Make this your habit now, no matter what it takes. Use that fresh, young, brilliant spongy brain of yours to memorize big chunks of Scripture. Trust me. Pick a psalm of praise (like Psalm 103 or 145) to have ready when you want to (or need to) praise the Lord. Have a reminder in your heart that He is good, no matter what (Psalm 43).Memorize a Gospeland marvel at how much more clearly you see Jesus.
- Along with that, find a good church that preaches the Word. Go, even when you don’t feel like it. Go, even when you feel lonely (go and look for other lonely people). Of course, you don’t have to go every Sunday for the rest of your life, but make it your habit that unless you have a good reason, you’ll be found at church on Sundays. And don’t be a consumer, as if the church is there to serve you—be an active participant. Go to church to learn about and worship God and to serve and love His people. Thisone practice will make such a difference in your life, I promise.
- Develop a habit of prayer. Seek the Lord in all things, even before you talk to others about it. Go to Him when you wake, throughout the day, and when you sleep. Carve out a focused portion of time each day to pray in addition to all of the on-the-fly prayers. Schedule it if you have to. It will change your life.
- Think about where you want to be in five years. Ten. Fifteen. Whatkind of habits stacked up day after day, year after year will you need to develop to get there? Start them now, one at a time. I guarantee you won’t become a kind and patient person when XYZ happens unless you’re disciplining yourself to be kind and patient now. If you want to be steadfast in the future, you need to learn to be steadfast now.
- God is God and you are not. Learn contentment and humble yourself before the Lord.“Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases”(Psalm 115:3). The Lord is sovereign over all things, and He has plans for you that you can’t even imagine. Some of those plans might confuse you over the years. I don’t understand why I’ve faced some of the hardship that I have, but I can tell you that God has always been faithful. “But godliness with contentment is great gain…” (1 Timothy 6:6).
Contentment holds much more power than you can imagine. Trust in the Lord holds more peace than you can measure. Cling tightly to this truth.
- Ask questions, ask lots of them. Ask the big ones, ones that you might think you can’t say out loud for fear of appearing some such way to others. But don’t ask questions just for the sake of looking intelligent for having such a question. Look for and accept the answers.“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”(Matthew 7:7). The Lord did not send His Son to seek and save the lost only to be impossible to find. Seek Him and He will be found. (The website gotquestions.com is an excellent starting place for hard questions.)
- A.W. Tozer said, “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” So how should we think of God? He describes Himself in Exodus 34:6,7 so we don’t have to think too hard on this one. Over and over the Scriptures describe God as merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Train yourself to think of Him often and to be sure you think of Him rightly.
- In relationship to others, memorize Romans 12 and ask the Lord to help you live this way.
- Exercise is really not that bad. Find something you like to do and move your body.
- Being a perfectionist can look like a person obsessing over every detail and striving for excellence beyond what is reasonable, and it can also look like a person that won’t try anything because they’re afraid to fail. Either way, strive to excel in a way that pleases the Lord, but don’t be a perfectionist.
- Have fun! God designed this world for the Christian. We get to enjoy things the MOST because we know the Creator. Enjoy His creation. Laughter is so important. Seek to be joyful. It’s so much more enjoyable than lamenting every slight you perceive has been done against you.
- Listen to advice but be choosy about who you listen to. Do you want your life to look like theirs? Then listen. Are they a miserable cow? Take a pass on their advice. Do they align themselves with Scripture? Listen. Do they align with the culture? Pass.
- It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do yet. Most people aren’t doing what they went to college for. This isn’t meant to discourage you, just know that life takes turns you don’t expect. We are not the ones in control. Don’t be lazy; work hard. But don’t obsess over having to have the exact right plan right now. God will likely change it on you, anyway. His will is for you to obey Him and love Him; He does an amazing job of guiding you through the details of what that will look like.“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left”(Isaiah 30:21). My dad repeatedly said this to me my senior year when I was in agony over my future. At the time it frustrated me, but he was absolutely right. The Lord has worked out my life; He will do the same for you.
- Of course, there is so much more I would say, some more detailed to my own life but I’m sure you’ve had enough for one article. So, I will end this with hearty congratulations!
To my own daughter, my sweet baby Rae—being your mom, teaching you at home for these years, has been a supreme joy. I’m so proud of the young woman you have grown into, so proud that most of this advice is already your practice. You are much more mature than I’ll ever be. It’s been a wonder to see your talents and gifts develop; a joy to see you fall and learn to get up again. You are a loving, compassionate, and fun young woman. I can’t wait to see what God has planned for your life. Hold fast to Him in all seasons and enjoy your life as you seek and serve Him.
And call your Mama once in a while when you’re out in this great big world.
Love you so much,
Mama
Bethany Riehl lives in the Treasure Valley with three amazing teenagers and her incredible husband. She aims to write books and articles that show God’s grace in all circumstances and to point readers to His great love through story. You can subscribe to her newsletter—and for a free short story!—and learn more about her works at authorbethanyriehl.com.
