EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Friends and family of the 26 high school graduates of Atlantic Christian School heard rousing messages of service and devotion from speakers at Thursday night’s commencement ceremony.
Valedictorian Kaylee Bruenig, of Beesleys Point, Upper Township, gave an impassioned, often off-the-cuff, speech about surrendering one’s heart to God.
“My class, you are my family,” Bruenig said. “ And never in the history of this school has it had a class that has been as energizing and uplifting as you guys. This class has so many role models and leaders that have set a godly example for this school. This class is so close and a true family. And with these guys, literally every day is like Saturday Night Live.”
Bruenig, who will be attending Liberty University in the fall, asked her class to “consider the gospel, the most outstanding, powerful truth on this world.”
“I urge you that when you leave this school, live a life that shows you have surrendered your heart to God,” she said. “God is calling you to be the brightest light ever for him. I pray that your greatest desire, your greatest passion is not to have a career or to get married or to have a car or a boat, but to seek God and know Him more and that your love for him would overflow out of your lives. That’s my prayer for you guys.”
Salutatorian Asher Nothaft, of Pleasantville — who joked that “It’s really not fair to have me go on after Kaylee” — said that “There is nothing I regret about our years together. We learned so much together, whether it was from a textbook or from God’s word. It became a second home for most of us.”
Nothaft, who will attend Atlantic Cape Community College, added that “I encourage you not to limit yourself, but to limit what you commit your years to. Time is one of the most precious resources God has given us. ... Congratulations, class of 2012, we have run the course and come out all the better for it.”
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