Name That Hymn Blog

It’s been years since I was in high school, but I can still remember what it was like when I graduated. There was the sadness of having to leave old friends, and the anxiety of having to make new ones. There was the loneliness of leaving home, but the thrill of being independent. When trouble hit, you couldn’t always run straight to mom or dad like you used to. You had to to manage your own time, money, and emotions.

My niece is graduating high school this year. I’ve given her a lot of funny gifts over the years, but this year I wanted to get her something really meaningful as she starts her own journey. God’s Promises for Graduates fits that bill. It’s a compact sized book, just a little bigger than a smartphone, just a little smaller than a tablet. It’s hardcover and comes in different colors–I got hers in pink. It has thin pages like a Bible and silver foil edges. The words “Class of 2019” are imprinted on the cover.

Inside, the book is filled with Bible verses, arranged by topics. “What to Do When You Need…”, “What to Do When You Feel…” “What the Bible Has to Say About”, “What Jesus Means to You”, “What to Do When You Are”, and “Truth from the Bible About”. It has just about every need state, emotion, problem, covered. It’s a great book for a young adult to have handy, whether he or she is alone at school or far from home. For example, under “What to do when you feel…lonely”, it lists out Hebrews 13:5, Psalm 40:1-3, John 14:23, Psalm 68:5-6, Psalm 41:40, Psalm 139:7-12, and Matthew 11:28-30. The editor of the book decided to use mostly NKJV, but in select cases it uses NLT and NIV.

I remember when my brother, my sister, and I went to college, our mother gave each of us an Our Daily Bread Bible verse promise box. My brother told me how when we was alone far away at school he used to pick one verse a day, read it, and put the date on it each day. It’s neat to be able to give the same sort of thing to his little girl, who will now be going off on her own.