Kory celebrated his 12 year old birthday yesterday! We had prayed about how to make this a special day and year for him. As we watched a documentary on WWII, the Lord brought to mind the idea to give Kory some of his great-grandfather’s things from the war and his time in the Air Force. Kory is a WWII buff – reads everything he can get his hands on including a book on Medal of Honor recipients four times over which was given to him by another buff – his Uncle Jeff. All it took was one call to Uncle Chuck ( my uncle ) who was happy to send Col. Anthony A. Speier’s – “Poppy” – flight jacket, dog tags, a medal, and a bayonet used in WWI by his grandfather. Kory was thrilled to receive these items as well as another book on Medal of Honor recipients. We also had fun learning that Poppy served in the 417th Night Fighter Squadron, after leaving St. Mary’s College in San Antonio, TX, and enlisted hoping to be a pilot since he already had gotten his private pilot’s license as a 17 year old boy.
The other idea came from our friends the Baglows, the Grafs, and a couple of speakers we had heard. This was to make the entry into manhood a significant time complete with challenges and ceremony. So on the morning of his birthday, we presented him with his “Quest” which was a list of challenges to be met over the next year. They are as follows:
NavPress Bible Study Series
More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
God Glorified in Man’s Dependence by Jonathan Edwards
Westminster Catechism
Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris
Master Plan for Evangelism
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
The Kneeling Christian by John Hyde
The Unaborted Socrates by Peter Kreeft
Weekly Scripture Memory from W. Grudem’s Systematic Theology
The Apostle’s Creed
Body
Hike Mt Toby
Run a 5K
Skill
Build a bookshelf
Do a sewing machine project
play a carol at Christmas Eve Service(piano)
lead one week of family devotions
Service
Plan and execute a project of service in the community
The year will culminate on Kory’s 13th birthday with a Father/Son camping trip to Acadia National Park in Maine.
The other very special part of Kory’s birthday was having Robert and five other men from our church come and talk with Kory about the four virtues of Faith, Integrity, Love, and Industry. Austin Evans, Jonah Goldshlag, Dan Moylan, Steve Mirigian, and Nate Cartel came for a pancake breakfast a 8am and shared personal lessons they have experienced in these areas, how they each came to faith in Christ, and then they prayed for Kory. It was a beautiful and powerful to see these men pouring their lives into the life of our son – we were all so blessed.
Proverbs 27:17
Found your blog on another blogs’ list of classical ed blogs. Any how, I love what you did for your son’s birthday. Our oldest is almost 7, but we already talk occassionally about his 12th birthday and our plans for his “intro into manhood”. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for the encouragement! Just took a quick look at your blog. I joke that I can’t be friends with anyone who doesn’t love Stepping Heavenward! So fun to meet kindred spirits!
Ma’am,
I’ve written a book about Col Anthony Speiers WWII unit, the 417th NFS.
I don’t want to sound like this is spam, but a signed copy of the book, “Beaufighters in the Night” might be a special treat.
v/r,
Brick
this + last name (no spaces) at yahoo if you want it.