Milestones

Accomplishment

We have again reached the time of year when many people are graduating from high school or college and moving into the next phase of their lives. But I must admit that I am personally invested more this year than other years. My first born son is graduating from our homeschool program this year. This is an amazing accomplishment. 

I know that it is easy to assume that high school is something that most people finish and therefore must not be a great accomplishment but that is not correct. For every graduate there is a particular path of growth, development, and accomplishment that was necessary for them to reach this point. My son overcame his own learning challenges to reach this goal. Many other students have also worked hard to achieve goals related to certain academic awards or extra curricular goals that are now ready to be celebrated at this point of completion. 

Today’s post will probably be a little different as I reflect on these days.

Appreciation

First I want to reflect on all the people who have helped Laura and I in the journey of parenting. These friends, family, influencers, and brethren in Christ are too numerous to mention but I am flooded with thoughts about how so many people have poured into his life and our family over the years. The folks have been used by the Lord to encourage us and to edify us in this important season in our lives. 

Secondly, I am so thankful for my wife. She has worked, prayed, and done everything possible to meet his educational needs. She had been his champion in more ways than I can count. As a matter of fact I know that even Brady and I do not fully understand everything that she has gone through to reach this goal.

Also I am so thankful for my son. He is a tremendous person with the perfect mix of compassion and commitment that I know has come not from us but from the Lord. Or, to put it another way, he is both hardworking and humble in a way that is an inspiration to me. The qualities were not so much cultivated by us. as they have been discovered.

But most of all the praise belongs to our great God and Lord Jesus Christ who made my son and made us his parents. These are amazing things and they are marvelous to us (Psalm 118:23-24). As already mentioned, the Lord made our son the man he is and has allowed us the pleasure of parenthood.

Achievement

I mentioned earlier that Brady faced his own learning challenges. I do not want to dwell on those challenges, but instead focus on all that he has accomplished. Again, his mother worked so hard to help him and he worked hard at things that he found difficult but still learned to have success with. I am amazed especially at his love of books and reading. He has learned to be curious and love learning more than mere education.

There has also been a level of achievement on our part. This should certainly be credited more to Laura, but to move from the relatively “safe” social expectations of the public school life that we had grown up in, to the challenges and freedoms of homeschool has proved to be extraordinary. To reach this point of completion is a mixture of excitement and relief to see the man our son has become (Proverbs 22:6).

Anticipation

As I bring this post to a close I want to think about anticipation in two ways. First, the anticipation leading up to this day. For years,we have been focused on the concepts and skills that he needed to know to reach this point. We have anticipated the smaller steps that bring us to the milestone moments. So in one sense we are at the culmination of a long anticipated point.

However, I am gripped by the anticipation now of what he will do and the life he will live. The opportunities that now are unknown but in God’s good providence will appear in due time. I am not at all worried or concerned but rather excited for the good days ahead. I know that the Lord has prepared him for good works and prepared good works for him to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Thank you Lord Jesus for your amazing blessings and these great milestones give to us to reflect on your awesome works (Psalm 103)!

---