Farewell Address: To my oldest son on his graduation from homeschool
My son, my heart is full and I wish to share so much with you as you prepare to enter a new phase of life that will see my role in your life begin to diminish. I am happy for you that you have come this far and hope you will become the man of God you were called to be. I want you to work hard in the calling God has assigned to you. I want you to find a godly wife who will help you and bring you joy. I want you to diligently teach your children the word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Christian life.

More than anything, I want you to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" when your life is over. Yes, my son, your future is before you and I wish only God's best for you. I suppose when you have time to ponder your life you tend to dwell in the future. You must forgive me, however, if this occasion makes me reminisce about days gone by. I remember how helpless you were the day you were born. I remember how you used to stand up on your toes so you were able to look over the back of your crib and look at your mother and I. We could only see the top half of your face. I remember when you first learned to walk. I still carried you around when we needed to get anywhere in a hurry. I remember teaching you to read and to play baseball and football. Yes, I'm sure I think about your childhood more than you do - or at least remember it more fondly.

Since I have seen you from the beginning, perhaps I have a much better appreciation for how far you've come in the 16 years you've been with us. As you ready yourself for college next fall, my thoughts are also drawn back to my own past. When I was your age I squandered my time and my opportunities on foolishness - as young people are in the habit of doing. I remember the meeting I had with my parents in the principal's office in the spring of my senior year of high school. He told me I was failing three classes and if I didn't improve my grades I wouldn't graduate. An end of the year surge lifted my GPA to 1.2 for the semester - bad, but just good enough to graduate. Two years later I flunked out of college to become a full-time dishwasher. I gladly associated with the wicked and if it wasn't for the grace of God, I would have certainly destroyed myself. Although God forgave me for the sins of my youth, those sins have had consequences that are still with me today. I beg you to learn from my mistakes and make the most of the time you now have. Now that I'm done talking about the past, I'd like to look into the future with you and tell you what I see.

Young people spend too much time thinking about the immediate future and not enough time thinking about their eternal future. You will be spending an eternity in the kingdom of Jesus Christ - surrounded by all the saints and God's holy angels. Please prepare for those days now. Before you enter eternity you will stand before God and give an accounting for the life He has given you. If you always remember that, you will be able to resist the temptations of youth. You will not waste your days in idleness or immorality, and when you get a little older you won't waste your early adulthood chasing dreams of selfish ambition that will leave your soul empty even if you succeed. Instead, make it your ambition to be the best servant for Jesus Christ you can be. Ask God to direct your ways so that all the talent, skill, and resources God has given you can be used for God's glory and for the advancement of His kingdom. If you make this your ambition you will be opposed and persecuted by men and by demons, but the work will give you a tremendous sense of fulfillment and peace of mind. I realize that a young man who is consumed with pleasing his Lord and considers the eternal consequences of his present deeds will not be popular with many people his own age.

You will see the fun and the companionship the worldly are having and may at times wish your path wasn't so hard and so lonely. Nevertheless, you must be strong. In the end, the fun the worldly are having will be a source of sorrow and regret. Therefore, don't seek out worldly youth to fulfill your need for companionship. Instead, patiently seek out the young woman God is preparing to be your lifelong companion. Let her be the one who will satisfy your desire for intimate friendship and help you with your life's work. Since we are on the subject of life's work, don't despise the importance of your family or of raising children. For most people, raising children is the most eternally significant thing they will ever do. Always consider children a blessing and take as many of them as God sees fit to give you. Diligently teach your children God's word through which their souls will be saved and their character molded. See that they read their Bibles day and night as you have been trained to do. The Holy Spirit through the Scriptures will teach your children what their frail and sinful parents have neglected to teach them. I know this from personal experience. Show your love for your children by enjoying them and desiring their company. Play games with them, tell them stories, and include them in as many of your activities as possible - including your work. Do not be harsh with them and do not demand of them more than is reasonable given their age. On the other hand, do not spoil them either. Do not allow a challenge to your authority, willful disobedience, or violence to go unpunished.

If you do these things, your godly children may be your glory when you enter eternity. Even so, remember that even the children of godly parents are saved by God's grace alone - you cannot save your children no matter how effective you are as a parent - so pray for the salvation of your children regularly. You may be wondering what all this has to do with your graduation. Why haven't I been saying more about the importance of education? Why haven't I given you advice on how to succeed in college? The truth is that formal education and college aren't really very important in the eternal scheme of things - and even as it affects your career, education is highly overrated. A man of faith and character will be a success in God's eyes whether he finishes high school or not. A man who lacks faith and character will be a failure in God's eyes even if he has a Ph.D. from Harvard. If you concentrate on improving your character, the issues involved in getting through college will take care of themselves. An honest, diligent, disciplined, faithful, and loving man will succeed in getting through school, unless God wills it otherwise.

In conclusion, keep your eyes on the heavenly prize. Do not be distracted by the foolish and destructive desires of youth - learn from my experience. Don't fret if your Christian walk makes you lonely. Instead, trust that God will bring you a godly wife. Treat the family God gives you as a precious and noble work that deserves your time and resources. And don't worry about getting through college nearly as much as you worry about developing a strong Christian character. This may be the last year you will spend most of your time in our home. Your mother and I will miss you more than you know. It is my experience that parents usually treasure their children more than children treasure their parents. Perhaps this was by design, as it reflects - rather dimly - the perfect love our heavenly Father has for us and how we His children take that love for granted. So, my son, we are proud of you, we love you, and we wish you all of God's blessings as you prepare to leave us. Remember that no matter where you are, we will always be thinking of you and praying for your welfare.
Love, Dad