Senior Sunday

Senior Sunday

For as long as I can remember, Senior Sunday at church had always been exciting.  I always looked forward to seeing the high school seniors step onto the pulpit and present their speech.  A speech that they had worked tirelessly on for at least a month.  The speeches were usually about what they had learned throughout their years of school.  Some brave seniors would go the opposite route and talk about something completely random, like their favorite song or book.   Either way, I always admired the eloquence of the speakers.

Before I knew it, my turn to give a senior speech had come.  I was filled with so many wavering emotions.  I was scared, nervous, excited, and proud; but mostly horrified.  I could not get up in front of the entire congregation and speak.  I did not have anything to say.  Nothing monumental had happened in my life.  I was only seventeen!  Where did all the time go?  How was it already time for “little baby Kenzie,” to give her speech. 

I remember sitting down at the kitchen table with my laptop and Microsoft word open.  On the screen: document one, page one, word one “Hi,” it read.  I had been sitting in front of that cocky screen for hours while it mocked my writer’s block.  I continued to sit in my chair as the screen and I had a staring competition.  Neither one of us budged.  We just stared at each other, waiting for the other to crack.  Eventually, I gave in and decided to try to down my ideas for the speech.

Every idea that came to mind was awful.  I, all the sudden, had tons of ideas, but none of them were worthy to be the point of my prestigious senior speech.  Everything that I typed was quickly deleted by the backspace button.

Finally, I came up with a good idea.  I could write about how God speaks to me and to his other children.  “What a great idea McKenzie,” I thought to myself.  My computer screen was finally becoming filled with words that did not quickly become prey for the backspace button.  I started to write about my experience with God and how much he had helped me.  The words flowed from my head, to my fingers, and flooded the screen.