Somebody‘s Prayer for His Son

Build me a son,O Lord,
who will be strong enough to know when he is weak,
and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid;
one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat
and humble and gentle in victory.

Build him,I pray,
not in the path of ease and comfort,
but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.
Here let him learn to stand up in the storm;
here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son, whose heart will be clear,
whose goal will be high;
a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men;
one will reach into the future,
yet never forget the past.

And after all these are his,
add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor,
so that he may always be serious,
yet never take himself too seriously.
Give him humility,
so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness,
the open mind of truth, wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."

带在身边好多年，早忘记怎么来的。俺虽不是个‘儿子’可也知道做人要做这样的人。
刚刚，就今天，跟自己的儿子读了一遍讲了一通。
小子说：老外真奇怪，这是能跟上帝讨来的吗？这不得是依靠每一个儿子自己长成什么是什么嘛？！
这。。。俺半天没喘过气儿来！！！