It’s Time to Have a Looonnnggg Talk With That Boy

This will be his senior year. Our oldest son will officially graduate from our homeschool sometime next year. Last night DUH and I sat down together and had a long talk about how to direct this son of ours. Homeschool is not like government schools. They just send them all off on the same path and hope for the best.

But we have choices….endless choices. We can send him off in a specific direction. It’s a blessing, that’s for sure. We believe this will give him a head start over most other 18 year old boys.

So after we talked, DUH invited the boy into his cave…I mean office. DUH told the boy that he needs to make some decisions. The boy has a few days to think about it and then they will talk again.

We see so many young men heading off to life without any direction. How do you get anywhere if you don’t know where you are going?!

So we told him to make a list. Where does he see himself in 5 years? What kind of work will he be doing? Where will he live? Will he be married? What kind of life does he want?

Then we will take that list and together we will make a plan for him to get there. I know what I’d like to see him do, but he has to make this list on his own. He has to make these decisions for himself.

No man can really become a man if the path he’s on was chosen for him by someone else.

So the boy will spend the next few days praying, seeking God and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. We are not setting it in concrete. We are just being wise with our time. We have one more year to prepare him in our school. We want to give him the ability to head off down the path he chooses.

Most of this is done through the father/son relationship. I, as a mom, don’t have what it takes to teach him to be a man. His dad has to do that. What I can give him is confidence, respect and gentle guidance. But that’s for another post.

Another thing we want him to realize is that this is not just for himself. Our whole lives are to be a sacrifice of love for others. He has little eyes watching him….following his every move.

I am praying for this boy of ours. He’s a treasure and a blessing to me….that’s for sure. I want him to know who he wants to be and I want to help him get there.

ed note: Be careful who you marry. If you marry a man that looks like he’s drunk in every picture, it’s likely that your sons will have that same look when they are photographed.