Beginning with the End in Mind.

There is a great thread on the Well Trained Mind forum (henceforth known as WTM) asking for advice from homeschoolers that have been at it for 10+ years. Naturally, it's filled with brilliance.  My favorite piece of advice, though, was this.

So. My 4 year old son.

In 16 years.
He's learned to drive.
He's graduated high school. Public or otherwise.
He's working. Maybe through college. Maybe not.

But what else?

I hope he is kind. Generous. Happy. That he is passionate about life. I hope, with all my heart, that he knows & loves Jehovah God. Whether he loves Him or not is out of my hands.  That depends on my son alone. But I can give him knowledge.  I can equip him to make his own decisions. That much I can do.  If I can inculcate in him LOVE; love for God, love for others, a love of learning, I will count our journey a success, and I will thank God for leading me.

Of course I want my children to read and write. Fluently. To do arithmetic and beyond. To be well acquainted with the world around them. And how it came to be. How they came to be. I hope he has knowledge of mankind's past mistakes, and I hope he can learn from them.

But that's icing on the cake. I truly believe that success or failure is measured by how we treat our fellow man. I believe it is measured by how we're living up to God's standards. How God views us. And I'm quite certain that God doesn't mind that I'm not fluent in Calculus. 

I hope in 16 years, my boy (now  a grown man) can cook for himself and do his own laundry. I hope he can keep a tidy home. I hope he is a good, loving man. A humble leader. Whatever path he chooses, I hope he walks it with confidence.

These are the things I hope for my son. The things I hope to help him accomplish in the next 16 or so years.