SARAH MERLY | JUNE 9, 2023 – for mrcTV.com

Amidst all the stories about schools shoving LGBTQ propaganda on kids while college students cancel anything and anyone right-leaning, sometimes I’m tempted to believe that all public schools in the U.S. actively fight against conservative values. Fortunately, one high school valedictorian’s viral speech has proven me wrong

Lydia Owens, who graduated this year from Woodmont High School in Piedmont, South Carolina, testified to her Christian faith during her ceremony speech.

“Even if you accomplish all of your dreams or none of them at all, you are still valuable, and you are still good enough because you are made in the image of God,” she told her fellow graduates and the audience.

Owens explained she was graduating two years after her mother passed away.

“She always pushed me to be my best self and always encouraged me in my faith,” she said. “She’s the reason that I have such a strong faith. She was the example of how to be a godly woman and how to love people intentionally.” 

Yet Owens made it clear that her life doesn’t end with her mother’s grave.

“When tragedy struck my life, it wasn’t my grades nor my success that helped me navigate through that loss,” she said. “When everything else in my life felt uncertain, the only person I could depend on was Jesus.” 

Wayne Bray, First Baptist Simpsonville’s lead pastor, shared tremendous excitement for Owens with Christian Headlines.

“Brian Owens is one of my best friends in life, and truly a hero of a dad,” said Bray. “So I am proud of Lydia as her Pastor, but maybe even more so as a friend to her dad. She lives her faith and is willing to shout it for the whole world to hear. Yes, tragedy struck Lydia’s life, and its impact was great. But she is a living example that God’s grace is greater!”

After the summer, Owens will attend Anderson University to pursue a degree in elementary education. What a wonderful thing to know that not only has Owens proven herself a staunch conservative student, but that she will share her Christian values with the next generation.