Instruction.

"If at first you don't succeed, read the instructions."

-Anonymous

"It's hard to train a child in a way the parents don't go themselves."

-Anonymous

"Out of the mouths of babes come things mom and dad never should have said in the first place!"

-Anonymous

"A child's life is really determined by just how hard his mother and father work at being parents."

-Anonymous

"Parents should always remember that some day their children will follow their example instead of their advice."

-Anonymous

"My children, listen to me. Listen to your father's instruction. Pay attention and grow wise, for I am giving you good guidance. Don't turn away from my teaching. For I, too, was once my father's son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child."

-Proverbs 4:1-3

While I was pedaling across America this summer, Margaret gave me a very interesting article about a graduation speech given by Bill Gates. There is so much good instruction in his speech that I thought it would be good to pass along to students and parents alike:

"Love him or hate him, he sure hit the nail on the head with this!

"Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a high school about eleven things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

"Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

"Rule 2: The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

"Rule 3. You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

"Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

"Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

"Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

"Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

"Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

"Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

"Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

"Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

These are the common sense kind of instructions many parents pass on to their children. With schools today taking students down the easy everybody's-a-winner road, somebody needs to be teaching about real life. Bill Gates did it. We should too.

"Listen, my child, to what your father teaches you. Don't neglect your mother's teaching. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and clothe you with honor" (Proverbs 1:8-9).

"My son, obey your father's commands, and don't neglect your mother's teaching" (Proverbs 6:20).

"Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain on it" (Proverbs 22:6).

Remember: What happens at home is more important than what happens at church! We are being watched . . . that's called teaching!

Teach wisely!