My Son

               My son was born this week. Riker Allen Smith, born Tuesday October 16 at 12:05pm. He is by far the most perfect thing I've ever laid eyes upon in this world. It's only been a few days, but I am already worrying about being the best parent I can be for him. There are so many things to think about, so many things that can go wrong, yet so many wonderful moments are waiting to happen. My wife and I will do our best to teach our son the be a good person, to care about people, to believe in himself, to always strive for success in everything he does, and to never settle for less than his dreams. We will teach him to be kind, caring, and charitable, while emphasizing the importance of exhibiting these characteristics because they are the hallmarks of a good person, not because someone else tells him to do so. We will teach him to rely on himself first and foremost, and to seek HAND UPS only as a last resort, while never relying on HAND OUTS. We will teach him that formal education is important and necessary, though it means nothing without the drive for self-education and the gift of common sense. We will teach him that he alone holds the keys to his success in life, and that no man but he may determine his course in this world. We will teach him to respect and to love the Lord, and that his first responsibilities are to God. We will teach him that his human rights come from nature and nature's God, and that no man nor government may take them away. We will teach him to respect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for these are the most important gifts that God has given him. We will teach him that individual ingenuity and individual success come with individual responsibility. We will teach him that next to God, his family is the most important thing in his life, followed closely by his freedom and his country. We will teach him that America has been and will remain the last stand for freedom on earth, as long as American principles endure. We will teach him that while fairness sounds nice on paper, it will always fail in practice when government is allowed to define such an ambiguous ideal and how it is to be achieved. We will teach him that equal justice as defined by the people, and equal protection under the law will always be the better course for a nation built upon freedom. We will teach him that caring for others should come from the heart and not from a government mandate. We will teach him to respect and protect life, and that humans are humans, whether born or unborn. We will teach him that individual rights come before the needs of the many, for if you are not free to support yourself and seek your dreams as you see fit, then it is immoral to demand of you to take care of others, especially at the direction of politicians and bureaucrats. We will teach him that to ignore the world around him and to avoid the events and issues of the day is to deny himself part of what it takes to fully flourish as a human being. We will teach him to love his family, his neighbors, his country and God. We will teach him that freedom and free men are what keep our world from falling into chaos, and that if freedom is ever lost from this world, it will be lost forever. We will teach him to seek to better himself in all things every day. We will teach him to be proud of his successes, and to learn from his failures. We will teach him to never feel guilty for his intellectual and material achievements. We will teach him that the world we live in is the prequel to eternity, and that what we achieve here defines our lives, while what we learn here will define our souls. We will love him every day, teach him every day, encourage him every day and believe in him every day. When the world is good to him, we will keep him modest and reverent. When the world knocks him to his knees, we will keep him focused and faithful. Right now, not myself, nor my wife, nor my son, nor any person living can tell us how events will unfold or who my son will become. We will teach him to be a great man in service to Almighty God, and we will pray that the Lord will guide his choices in all things. One day, many years from now, I will show this declaration to my son and I will ask "How'd we do, your mother and I?" His answer to that question- not mine, not yours and not the world's- my son's answer to that question will affirm our success or failure as parents. We don't know what the future may hold, but I can make this promise without reservation: I will do everything in my power, as will my wife, to teach our son to be the best person he can be, and to always, always, make choices that will allow his body to sleep at night, and his soul to be at peace in eternity. May God bless my son and my growing family, without whom I would have nothing, know nothing, and be nothing.