Celebrating My Son

This weekend, we're celebrating Ben's graduation from High School.

It's been an amazing journey for us, especially since Ben has been homeschooled from the very beginning. I still don't remember clearly how we arrived at the decision to take on our kids' education at home, but I'm awfully glad we did. Not only were we able to provide an outstanding learning experience (thanks to the heroic work of Margo! Whoohoo!), but we were able to spend far more time together as a family than we would have by pursuing a more traditional approach.

I can still picture us snuggled up on the couch, picking out the words with him in his first "Bob" book, watching him discover the world and figure out how fun it is to learn. Ben was always very bright and inquisitive, and he excelled in his academics... right up through his great SAT scores and early admission to Virginia Tech's engineering program. We are so very, very proud. It's also been fun to be a part of all the "well-rounded" parts of his education over the years -- athletic teams, music, drama, community service, etc. I'm going to savor all those terrific memories.

But now our little boy is all grown up and our time together with him grows shorter. My thoughts and emotions are saturated and confusing right now. I'm so excited for him, so proud of the incredible young man he's become, so sad that he won't be sitting at the dinner table with us this Fall, so eager to see what life holds for him, so desperate to hold on to whatever memories we can still share. As we celebrate his journey and this great milestone, and as we release him into the even greater adventure that awaits, I find myself praying a simple blessing for him over and over -- a blessing straight from the mouth of his Heavenly Father:

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord… (Jeremiah 29:11-14)