Once a boy, now a man.

My son leaves tomorrow to begin his new career.  I am all at once a bundle of emotions.  Proud, anxious, excited, nervous, ready for anything, wait a minute, you'd think I was going!  Even though somehow in a way I am.  You see, I am no different than any other parent in the fact that we vicariously live through our children.  That's why we try and involve them in every sport or outdoor activity when they're young.   Oh, I know we want them to play sports so that they learn about sportsmanship, competition and teamwork.  But us dad's have ulterior motives.  We want them to achieve the glory and honor we didn't.  The cheers and accolades for the heroes are sweet music to our ears.  The home runs and touchdowns or game winning shots make us the envy of the neighborhood dad's when we are the Home Depot on Saturday.  It's as if we turn back time to our glory days!  I have to laugh as I find myself embellishing my son's stories sometimes with my own little subplots as if I was reading it in the paper.  Now, I know that as a Christian I have a duty to be honest in conversations and not to lie.  I am hoping that God has a bit of grace for an overly zealous dad and his whimsical story telling. ;)
Anyway, he leaves and with him go the fastest 19 years of his and my lives.  He is now a man and must find his way in this world.  A world that is equal parts exciting and full of potential to dangerous and cold at times.  But I don't see the little boy that used to think I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I see a man.  A young man who has made his mom and I proud.  Who has prepared for this moment in his growing up.  Who wants to climb his own mountains and achieve his own dreams.  Funny thing though, I was that man once.  I know the feeling.  I can empathize with him in this biggest of steps in his life's journey.  My peace is in the fact that my son loves the Lord.  He has the full armor of his Heavenly Father with him.  He knows that he is never alone and as long as he stays in the center of God's will he can't make a wrong decision.  But he has to tap that resource in order to be enriched, encouraged and strengthened.  To live for Christ means to walk, talk and be like Him.  That can be a tall order in today's wrong is right world.  But I have supreme confidence in him, after all he is a chip off His Father's block!

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.