(ConservativeSense.com) – A valedictorian graduating from a public school in South Carolina has gone viral due to her speech discussing the death of her mother, the definition of success, and her Christian faith. 18-year-old Lydia Owens knew she would be class valedictorian by the end of her first senior semester and thought long about what she wanted to say to her classmates. After bouncing the idea around with her close friends, she finally decided to talk about her faith and how it informed her view of personal tragedy.
Owens’ mother died two years before her graduation, which was a difficult time in the teen’s life. It challenged her faith, ultimately leading to a renewal where she could see the value of hardship and tragedy and how it could help her become a better person. She was unsure of how to communicate those ideas and afraid of how talking about faith would be received.
Her friends convinced her that it was a great opportunity, and during her rough draft, she prayed, asking Jesus for guidance. She specifically asked him to write through her, and she believes the words she wrote on the page were not hers but his.
Owens laid out her belief that success or failure in life is transitory, whereas the grace of God is eternal. Whether you fail at everything or achieve your wildest dreams, “you are still valuable” because we are all children of God. She said that worry over whether or not you’ll be successful is unnecessary, “God promises that his grace is sufficient.”
The death of her mother inspired her words, and while it’s still “a pretty fresh wound,” She said her mother inspired her faith, and she would frequently discuss it with friends. The response to her speech has been overwhelming; she did not expect raucous applause and mass approval. She said that reaction has been “incredible.”
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