REFLECTION & PRAYER

By DAVID J. HARDIN

Cove Leader-Press

 

On Sunday at First Baptist Church in Copperas Cove, soon-to-be graduates of Copperas Cove High School and Crossroads High School took part in a baccalaureate service which was held in their honor.

 

The short service was a time of reflection and prayer for those who wished to have a blessing.

 

The ceremony began with colors and the pledge of allegiance. An invocation was made by Preston G. Atkinson, and Dante Snooks sang the Lord’s Prayer.

 

Jacob Bonner, a CCHS senior, read from the book of Matthew chapter 6, verses 19-24.

 

Another song was performed by Snooks, then the Reverend Jonathan Warren, an Anglican priest with the Resurrection Church of South Austin, gave the sermon and message to the graduates.

 

During his address, Warren told the graduates that they need to be celebrated by their families, churches and others. His challenge to them was to “go on with their lives but to remember to that God is there for them and to worship him because he is the only one who can rescue, save, and provide for them.”

 

Jacob Bonner has attended Copperas Cove High School for all four years and said that it really has not sunk in yet that he is graduating, but is excited about the future as he will attend Howard Payne University in Brownwood in the fall.

 

Eric Frazier has spent three years at Copperas Cove High School and said that this is a great moment for him and his family. He will be staying in the local area as he will be attending Central Texas College in the fall.

 

Shandra Conley and her friend Emily Cox said, “We made it,” in unison when asked what graduation means to them.

 

Shandra will be attending Texas A&M University in Commerce and Emily will be attending North Central Texas College in Gainesville. Shandra and Emily’s message to their fellow graduates is to “be successful and reach for your dreams.”

 

Fellow graduates and friends Nala House and Marissa Thomas siad this time in their lives is bittersweet because they are completing high school, but are sad to leave their friends behind in order to start a new chapter in their lives. House will attend Central Texas College for one year and then she will transfer to Tarleton State University in Stephenville. Thomas will become a Wildcat, as she will be going to Lexington, Ky. to attend the University of Kentucky.