I had the privilege, along with a bit of sadness, of dropping my son Joe off at Colorado Christian University last week.

As the weekend culminated, University President Eric Hogue addressed the new freshmen and their parents and gave an insight I thought was applicable to the Hill Country community. Before I tell what the president said, I need to share a confession. Truth be told, when we dropped off our oldest daughter at college three years ago, I was so sad that I could hardly reflect—at least in a productive and healthy way. Thankfully, this time around—being that it was my second go at this—I was able to soak in more of the richness of the experience rather than just be sad. What a gift!

Mr. Hogue made a comment in his address that stuck with me. He affirmed all of the parents who were feeling sad about the prospect of dropping their son or daughter off at college, but then reminded all of us that this is what we have labored for all of these years—to LAUNCH our children. And that is exactly what all of us were doing.

He’s right. And I think all of us instinctively know this during our parenting years, but perhaps this notion gets lost in the messiness of parenting. Sometimes that mess is pure survival, like potty training, or car rides with crying kids, or navigating cell phone issues with our teens. And sometimes that messiness comes in the form of pressure to get them into all the various activities and sports so they can be well rounded, or giving them the perfect high school experience, or making sure they give proper attention to their grades so that they can get into the perfect college and land the perfect career.

All of this is good, and it is all part of the parenting path, which is more of a windy road than a straight and upward trajectory. But I know for myself that I can sometimes be distracted by all of these “urgent and pressing” issues and forget my chief aim as a parent: to LAUNCH my child as a Christ-follower into the world so that they can participate in building HIS kingdom here on earth.

As I reflected over the weekend, I was repeatedly encouraged by this thought. Here is my son, walking with the Lord, and starting off on a new adventure where he is going to grow in his faith, and start down a path of finding the career path God has laid out for him. All for service in HIS kingdom. What a gift to observe as his father.

And what a gift I have received over all of these years to partner with Christian schools to help bring about that end. There is zero question in my mind that the role Christian education has played in my son’s life over the past 13 years has more than shaped him into the man he is today. I’m so grateful for each of his teachers who have poured various subjects like calculus and history into him. But I am more grateful for the way in which they have poured Jesus into him day in and day out.

This is why I thought this reflection might apply to all of you. You’ve selected Hill Country to educate your children. But my hunch and my hope is that you’ve selected Hill Country to do more than merely give them an education. You’ve selected HillCo to help prepare your son or daughter so that one day, you too can LAUNCH them into the world as a Christ-follower, equipped to serve as an ambassador in whatever God calls them towards in life.

My heart is full. Full with the knowledge that I have LAUNCHED two out of my five kids and full with the gift of having three more here at Hill Country who are having Jesus poured into them day in and day out! Praise God!

Have a great week,

Eric DeVries, Head of School