You are the best you!

"When we came to Pea Ridge, you guys were in the first grade," said Edwin Brewer, pastor of Assembly of God Church, Pea Ridge.

Brewer, the guest speaker at the Pea Ridge High School Baccalaureate Friday evening, is "PawPaw" to graduating senior Tristan Brewer, who introduced him.

He said he wanted to speak on a very simple, yet profound, thought.

"The you you see is the you you'll be."

Brewer said he has spent the last 32 years speaking into the lives of young adults -- as many as 400 to 500 students since he's come to Pea Ridge. He said there are many adults who hate their work, who "dread every minute of it."

"I say to any young person who will listen -- think about it. Dream about a job -- what woudl your dream job be?

"Why not get an education, whether in a four-year college or trade school, that will give you the kind of job you could go to that you would have a blast going to?"

"I believe that would be a desire God would have in your life," he told the seniors.

"Enjoy your time on this earth!"

"Go home tonight and look in the mirror. Because the you that you see is the you that you will be!"

"Your teachers have done their part; they educated you. They have done the very best that they know how to get you prepared for the next stage of life," Brewer said, adding that many people have invested in them including parents, friends, family. "No one ever receives success without someone's help."

"At the end of the day, there's no one that can dream for you," he said. "You have to dream your own dreams and you have to make it happen."

Quoting from Scripture, he said "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).

Then, quoting the late Martin Luther King Jr., he said he believes every person on earth was created by God to have a dream, a destiny.

"He designed you to do it better than anybody else -- to give love, to praise God, to relate to people. There's a certain way you serve, your humor, singing, telling stories, designing, decorating. You add something to this plant that no one else can."

"Great people in the Word of God, always followed their dreams. The greatest men and women in biblical history followed the dreams that were in their hearts -- Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel, Stephen, Paul.

"Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. was willing to leave his home in glory and come to a world that hated him, endure the cross and the shame because he had a dream that all who would accept him would live with him forever. God takes great pleasure in your dreams. You are unique -- you are not one in a million, you're one in 8 million"

"Why weren't you more like You? Did you follow your dream to the end?" he concluded.

Baccalaureate was sponsored by the Pea Ridge Ministerial Alliance. Patrick Meador, student pastor at First Baptist Church, welcomed students. Senior Zoey Jennings said the opening prayer. Zeke Garcia provided special music. Jonathan Waters, student pastor, Boundless Grace Baptist Church, offered the closing remarks. Senior Shelby Dunlap said the closing prayer.

Community on 05/22/2019