The results are in...

Thursday 18th August 2022 is just a regular day somewhere in the middle of summer for most of us. But for 1000’s of 18 year olds as they get their A-Level results, it is a huge, life-changing, future-shaping, full of crazy highs and awful lows, kind of day.

I literally thought the world had ended when I found out I hadn’t got the grades to study Geography at Leeds University. I’d got good grades, but just not quite good enough. It was obviously the most unfair thing that had ever happened in life. I cried. I refused to accept the offer I had from Nottingham Trent because I was proud, and thought my grades were too good. I cried some more. I frantically tried to figure out the clearing thing. I begged Manchester to take me in. I sulked when they didn’t. And I probably cried a bit more.
Then I had a call from a family friend who spoke some wise words that are forgotten now but helped me breathe, get some perspective, get on with what I had, what I was being offered, and get excited about going to University again. 
And actually it turns out that Nottingham is one of the most awesome cities in the UK, and that three years of Geography would have done my head in, and I was much better suited to a degree where I could study the Spice Girls, Die Hard and Freud. (True story.) 

If you’re going to be getting your results on Thursday, it’s going to be OK. 
Remember the God stuff that you know is true. He loves you, He has good plans for you, and He wants you to be living an awesomely full life. These do not depend on grades, or where you study, or if you even study at all - they are unchangeable facts. 
Take a deep breath, log-in or open the envelope, and keep breathing. 
And don’t forget to eat breakfast, food is important! 

We can all get involved in praying for our 18 year olds across the country. 

•    For wisdom and peace as they make some pretty significant life decisions.  
•    For them to be surrounded by people who will speak words of encouragement and sense in the emotional highs and lows. 
•    For them to know their identity is in God, not results.

Some helpful info: https://bit.ly/1nruFOF