3/26/2019

Online Grace (1): Promise Fulfilled

At some point in our lives, we make promises to ourselves. How many of them have been fulfilled?

Unfortunately, the trite phrase “promises are made to be broken” continues to be overused. It is difficult to fulfill a promise (defined as avowal of intent). 

My friend Luisa went against the grain. She fulfilled a promise she made to herself: “I will finish my degree.”

While still a college sophomore, she eloped with her boyfriend. Naturally, her parents were heartbroken and angry, “You are an undergraduate. Your future is shut!”

That hurt.

But Luisa understood what her parents meant. A degree spells higher pay, esteem of peers, and chances of employment/promotion. With her husband’s support, she took an online course, poring over assigned readings and papers between her domestic duties. For Luisa, this was online grace.

She was able to successfully finish all academic requirements and received (coincidentally on her baby’s second birthday) her diploma in BA Marketing.

It was her baby that melted her parents’ heart, welcoming her and her husband back into the fold. 

But to Luisa, it was a fulfilled promise that gave her the confidence to bravely face her parents—and her future.

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