Maybe a bit too pie-in-the-sky

Sometimes I like to pretend that the information that has had an effect on me in a profound way will, similarly, impact my boys. After reading Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer I was deeply moved by the end of the book where some excellent perspective and counsel was offered. It altered my reality and made me want to make it required reading for my boys when they get older. I guess I have this grand illusion that it will be used in their lives in much the same way that it has been used in mine.

Undaunted with my fantastical thinking I have yet another requirement for them. On my way into work I completed listening to a lecture by Dr. John Frame on the presuppositional apologetic approach of Cornelius Van Til. The approach he took, and the balance he struck, literally astounded me. It made me want to make my boys listen to it for it addressed some of the weaknesses I have as I assess what is going on around me and definitely leveled some false dichotomies that I had erected in my mind.

Is this pure fantasy? Am I to expect them to have the same feelings I do after the experiences I have had? Am I to expect God to generate the growth in them that He has in me through the ministry of these two men? I guess it is nice to think about but I can't set those expectations on them and Him. I will be too disappointed if they do not manifest the character building that has been done in me as a result of what I have been exposed to.

I guess what I can expect is that God will use other men and women of God in the same manner that He used Vischer and Frame in mine. But, alas, I will probably not share in their excitement and growth and that may disappoint them. That, in and of itself, is a bit of a bummer. I guess it makes the times when it does happen that much sweeter.