Our family celebrated Joseph’s high school graduation Saturday night. Even though Joseph has officially been done with school for several months, with trips and the house building project, we hadn’t been able to celebrate his graduation yet.

A few weeks in advance, we had asked family member who would be attending to find a Scripture verse to share with Joseph concerning their heart’s desire for his future and for them to be prepared to pray a blessing for him.

In a way, the first part of the graduation evening was like a birthday with Teri’s parents, Nathan, and Melanie joining us for the evening. After our dinner of Joseph’s choice of a favorite meal, we moved into the living room for family Bible time.

When we were finished with our time in the Word, I presented Joseph with his high school diploma. For our graduating children we order blank diplomas from HSLDA. Nathan blessed us by brushing up on his calligraphy skills so he could letter the diploma entries. The diplomas are professional looking and beautiful when completed.

A side note about his graduation. In addition to completing his school work, I had given Joseph another requirement for graduation. He was to read through the Bible, outlining it as he went while also compiling a timeline and doctrinal statement. These would be for his own personal use. The outline would be a consolidation of the points that were important to him from each chapter – a condensed view of Scripture from his perspective. The doctrinal statement was to be doctrinal points and supporting Scripture that he gleaned as he read and ones that would be foundational to his life and walk with the Lord Jesus. The timeline was to help him understand key Biblical events. He worked hard on this, and I have been very pleased.

The next graduation event was for family members, one by one, to read the verse or verses we had picked out with which to bless Joseph. After explaining our choice of a verse, we each prayed for Joseph. There were several times where tears flowed among different family members. It touched my heart when Sarah shared weeping with gratitude to the Lord, as she prayed and realized that if the Lord had not changed Teri and my heart to have more children, Joseph (and the four after him) would not be here! What a blessing and joy they are to our family.

After that, Joseph opened graduation gifts. He also expressed to the family his gratefulness for Teri’s investment of all those years in homeschooling him. Amen. A side note: When discussing the upcoming graduation several weeks ago, the children and I decided that “teacher Mom” ought to have a token acknowledgement of those years of blessing Joseph. We decided a fitting treat for her would be for the two of us to spend a couple nights away together. We are so grateful for her labor of love through these years.

Homeschooling requires a tremendous investment by moms who are willing to pay the price. How appropriate to close with this verse. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). May God tremendously bless you moms who have chosen such a path.

Steve