17 June 2025

Bryan, Texas

Dear friends and family,

Thank you for all your love and prayer for our family, and especially for Sahale, who recently graduated from nursing school at Texas A&M University.

She was chosen to be the class speaker, and through her speech, gave glory to God. Part of her speech is below.

“I first want to thank God for giving me this opportunity to graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Texas A&M University,” Sahale said. “The best university in the world! Next, I want to thank my family who came from all over the world, and who have prayed and supported me throughout my journey.”

“As many of our wise professors have said, ‘We need each other. We cannot do this life alone.’ Wow! We made it! We survived!”

She shared how God provided strength for perseverance throughout the journey.

“I have three encouragements and takeaways for us today. The first is to retain perseverance. There were times when we all questioned if we could make it. If we could succeed. But look where you are today. You are evidence of the fact that when you choose not to quit, you can succeed. I didn’t come to college with an exceptional educational background, or the highest grades. But choosing not to quit when things got hard has allowed me to graduate with you today, and stand among you as A&M alumni. Perseverance can take you anywhere you want to go. So, in this life when you want something, when you feel called to something, never give up. Never surrender.”

“My second encouragement for you all today is to obtain an, ‘I get to’ attitude. One semester I was talking with an uncle of mine, sharing with him all the things I had to get done in nursing school. He responded to me by saying, ‘Sahale, you don’t have to do any of this. You get to.’ So the next morning when I woke up, I chose to tell myself, ‘Wow, I get to wake up at 4 a.m. and drive to Temple for my pediatric clinicals! I get to study with incredible students. I get to learn from excellent preceptors and professors. I get to wake up. I get to move my arms and legs, walk out this door, and try again. I get to live another day. Learning to attain an, ‘I get to’ attitude, allowed me to better empathize with my patients, and see the world in a brighter way. Choosing to see life as a gift, rather than something I deserved allowed my world to become bigger and my love to exceed what I thought it could.”

“My final encouragement for you all today is to choose love. There are times, I know we’ve all experienced it, where we felt excessively drained by people: their demands of our time, our energy, and our resources. However, we all have that one person that we would do anything for, and that’s because we love them. So, whenever I was faced with a challenging patient or situation when I felt like I had nothing else left to give, I prayed for love. Love to see that person as my dad, my mom, my grandparents, my niece, my nephew, my brother, my sister, my friend. Love to give them what I felt was physically impossible to give – more of my time, my energy, my empathy.”

She emphasized love being the greatest motivator of all.

“Every time I prayed for love, I found that I was able to give the care that was required, without feeling drained myself. So I encourage you all to choose love for your patients. But also choose love for yourself, so your cup can be full to pour into others.”

“I want to conclude with this. Each of you has been given this one, precious life. So, what are you gonna do with it? There’s a quote by John Piper that says, ‘Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive. Because this world needs people who will come alive.’ So come into life and to who you were meant to be. Take all that life has to offer, its successes, its failures, its mistakes, its joys, and its sorrows. And have lots of fun while experiencing all of it. I’m excited to enter this new journey with you all. And I pray that God blesses each and every one of you with the desires of your heart, the strength to continue when you feel like you have nothing left, and the grace to let go and bravely face change when the time comes.”

We are now back on mission in Burma together as a family. Thank you for all your help and prayers.

God bless you,

Dave, family and FBR