What are your boys doing today? Plugged into a video game? Watching television? Hanging out with fellow teenagers?
He was only thirteen years old when he approached his father with a vision to build his very own home on the family property. Earlier that year his father had called for a father and son conference. The mission: Come up with a five year game plan to help his son David redeem the time for the glory of God.
Now, after years of listening to his father encourage him to redeem the time and prepare for his future marriage and life work, something took. David decided that there was no time like the present—to build his very own house!
But that was not all. David made it clear that his mission was to build the home. This would mean that when God sent him the woman of his dreams, David would be ready to take action, to provide for her and to have a family. The decision to build a home meant tough choices. And David acknowledged that he was making a conscious choice to forgo teenage years of a dating culture, team sports, and entertainment, in exchange for making sacrifices for a woman and a future that would be years away.
So David went about the business of personally studying the building codes, of meeting with the county planning department, and of learning the nuts and bolts of putting together a great architectural plan. David wanted to take the bull by the horns and learn and lead every aspect of the project. And after some thought, his father let him do just that.
One of the benefits of the sweat and effort is that the project has forced David to think very specifically about his duties as a man, and the way he hopes to express love for the future family he hopes God will give him. This means thinking about the size of the closet his wife will need, anticipating the number of bathrooms necessary for a growing family and a home given to hospitality.
David is now sixteen, and the vision of a home is quickly becoming a reality. With a little help from his friends, and three years of perspiration, savings, hard work, and planning, David’s dream home is inching ever closer to completion.
Standing before this amazing structure built by the hands of a sixteen-year-old boy, three things came to my mind. First, fathers have a duty to encourage their boys to invest their time wisely. Dads will either guide their sons to make noble time investments, or sons will squander the precious years of their youth on the activities that will mean precious little to them in twenty years. Second, boys need to make choices. They can invest their time in worldly folly or godly dominion. Both choices tend to yield dividends—but not of equal value. Third, the power of a positive example is stunning. I could not but help to thrill as I watched my own boys start to dream big dreams as one of their dear friends and peers proved that his dream was attainable.
Down with the game boys, up with the sheet rock! May God give us boys of decisive manly action who will someday be fathers of faith and fortitude.
5 comments:
Dinah,
Thank you SOOOOOO much for sharing this wonderful story. I am going to have to share this with my homeschool friends and put it on our blog too. The world would be a much better place if there were more fathers who instilled this type of vision in their sons. I pray we can find sons like this for our daughters.
Love,
Lanita
I dunno, it doesn't seem like much of a "vision" if you've got a Dad who can cut a check and pay for the whole project. Maybe we need more wealthy fathers not just visionary sons. Of course both would be nice! Luke
Well you know "Houses and lands are from fathers..." :) Prov. 19:14
The Browns live in a remodeled barn, which they planned to live in temporarily while building. But they loved the barn so much they stayed. David’s house probably takes the place of the house they would have built. Either way, sacrifice is tremendous.
Verily!!! However, it should be very obvious that the authors design, intent, and purpose within the article is to persuade the reader of the premise that the progress achieved thus far has been made with the total absence of assistance or involvment by the Father beyond that of permissive approval. As you noted, and I asserted, lands and houses do indeed come from the Fathers.
Thank you, Seppis, for posting this! We had seen it on Doug's blog and were impressed as well as inspired.
I think the gist of the article was to help sons to evaluate their resources and make choices that will further the vision the Lord places on their hearts.
Like a matching 401K program encourages savings for retirement, so can sacrificial gestures on the part of parents encourage sacrificial choices on the part of their sons.
Our 15 year old son has learned that the choices he makes today affect his future one way or another. He chooses to invest his money in silver, etc. and avoid investing regularly in frivolous purchases. (although he does at times)
It is the vision of my husband and myself to pass onto our children some land on which to build a home, whether temporary or permanent. We will help them in any other way we can to keep them from going into bondage with debt.
As Ben Pollock, our dear friend who's son is courting our daughter, puts it, "one generation sometimes must sacrifice for future generations. I am willing to be that generation." He has sacrificed in order that his son might have his "fields prepared". Kitty and Gabriel are able to go into marriage with land and a home debt free. What a blessing!
We do not desire any longer to attain our personal ideals, ie: a dream house, a dream shop, extensive travel, etc. We only desire to raise our children to think multigenerationally and to facilitate responsible, self sustaining (as much as possible) living.
Couples invest in everything under the sun...why should we not invest in our own children?
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