A Praise for Jonathan

October 9, 2009.  Martha, Jonathan, and I were in the Philippine city of Cebu.  Early in the morning I left Martha at an International school where she took her day-long PSAT – pre-college entrance exam.  I then took Jonathan to a Pearson Testing center to take the CompTIA A+ certification exam, a test usually taken by college seniors seeking to become certified in computer troubleshooting and repair.  Jonathan was 13.

Months earlier I had concluded that computer hardware was one of Jonathan’s strengths.  For years our family endured Jonathan’s curiosity of taking things apart and attempting to put them back together.  Eventually he got good at it.  Before his 13^th birthday, I bought 3 super thick college computer hardware textbooks and said, “Jonathan, see if you can work through these and we’ll see if you can pass the CompTIA exam.”  

Now I waited nervously in the Pearson Testing center reception room.  Jonathan was inside the next room at a computer terminal answering hundreds of questions.  After 3 hours, Jonathan came out.  As he did so, the testing supervisor gave a thumbs up.  Jonathan had passed.  He was now a certified computer repairman!  For the rest of his homeschooled high school, we emphasized computer courses.  

Soon after his 17^th birthday, I enrolled Jonathan in college to earn an Associates degree in computer networking.  Midway through his 2^nd year, Cisco Co. (the worlds supplier of networking equipment) hired him full time as a laboratory technician.  Last month, we got the good news that Cisco promoted him to work as a team member on a computer network security team.  It’s rare for Cisco to hire someone to this level of employment who is still a teenager.

This also marks a milestone of sorts for me.  All my children have now finished their formal education and hold professional jobs.  They are fully self-supporting.  Daddy’s wallet can rest.  Today I got teary-eyed as I talked about my kids to one of our pastors.  I’m so proud of each one of them.  God’s grace on them has been strong.  I’m super blessed.