Outstanding

Today, my husband graduated with his Master of Business Administration degree.  He was named the "Outstanding Graduate" student in his major, earning a 4.0 GPA.  We didn't know he would be receiving the award until we arrived at the ceremony and saw his name in the program.

My husband is a quiet, humble man.  He is not one to brag about his achievements.  In fact, he often says, "I'm not that smart.  I just work hard."  Understatement!  As his wife, I am proud and impressed and blessed.  When the dean spoke about Mike, she shared remarks from one of his professors about an extra project that he worked on in the course.  The project was challenging, and only one other student accepted the challenge.  Mike was the only one to follow through the whole semester and complete the project.  His follow-through is amazing.  I've mentioned before in this blog that he is an ultra-marathoner.  Mike has a work ethic like nobody else I know.

We were originally given 5 tickets for the graduation ceremony.  Of course, we invited Mike's parents to come.  That meant we could only bring two of our four children.  We opted to bring the oldest and youngest.  When I realized he was receiving the award, I was disappointed that he hadn't asked if we could bring everyone.  I checked with the greeters from the university, and they assured me there were enough seats.  We live about a mile from the school, so I called the children, told them "Get dressed and ready.  I'm picking you up now--Daddy is getting an award!"  I ran like, well, a runner, to the car in my dress and heels.  Drove safely, but swiftly home.  The children came quickly and we got back to the university with 15 minutes to spare before the ceremony started.

I was so happy that all four of our children were able to witness their father earning a special award for his hard work.  He's such a good example for them.  He worked through his undergraduate and graduate degrees while all of them were old enough to know what "Daddy is studying" means.  I hope his example inspires them to use the talents and intelligence God has blessed them with and to develop those talents to serve Him in the world.