If you are a freedom fighter, you have chosen a dangerous, passionate calling to protect freedom. Locked in daily battles, it is only natural to wonder whether it is the best of times or the worst of times to be standing up for liberty, or to wonder if you are making a difference.

Recently I sat by my father’s bed for the last time, as he asked whether his life had mattered. I’d like to share with you three questions we discussed, and some hard-earned lessons from four decades as a struggling defender of freedom.

Did I contribute something meaningful? 

We each want to make a difference. But in my case, I often succumb to ego-induced blindness, wanting to be the hero of the story.

Take for example, a great philanthropic failure: the Acton Children’s Business Fair, where young people showcase their entrepreneurial gifts. Last year we hosted 250 children from 48 schools and 1,300 visitors.

We started seven years ago with ten booths. The next year participation doubled, and then doubled again and again. One twelve-year-old made $26,000 selling her artwork. Another nine-year-old achieved national distribution and received funding from the television show Shark Tank. Hundreds of young entrepreneurs transformed their lives with little to no help from adults.

Finally, I woke up. We began offering kits to entrepreneurial parents outside of Austin. This year we’ll have fairs in over thirty cities: Phoenix opened with 100 booths and 800 visitors; Guatemala City hosted over 6,000 visitors.

A great philanthropic failure? Yes. Because opportunities like this grow exponentially—you simply have to look beyond your own ego to unleash them. For years I was so absorbed in my own entrepreneurial education efforts that I missed the bonanza at my feet.

Are you seeing the entrepreneurial opportunities to expand freedom all around you? Will you help us correct my mistake by bringing a Children’s Business Fair to your neighborhood? I’ll even chip in the prize money. Then we’ll see if the Left can interest our budding entrepreneurs in higher taxes or socialist schemes.

Was I a good person?

This is a question of integrity. Are you becoming who you were meant to be?

The transformational story of the Hero’s Journey—of Harry Potter and Sir Lancelot and Pilgrim’s Progress—are the underpinning of our Acton Academy K–12 schools.

We are recreating the one-room schoolhouses and apprenticeship programs of the Founding Fathers, when America became the richest, most powerful, and fairest nation on earth long before organized school systems were invented.

The lesson? The average young American is capable of far more than we ever imagined. With 21st century technology, self-management, self-governance, and a sprinkle of hero stories, we’ve seen an explosion of energy and learning.

By next September we’ll have forty Acton Academies all over the world, each run by a parent entrepreneur. And we receive nine applications each day to open a school, each capable of delivering a transformational education for less than $2,500 per student per year.

If just 10% of homeschoolers in the United States started a micro school like Acton Academy, a third of America’s children could receive a transformational education at less than fifteen percent of today’s costs.

So will you find a young person whose Hero’s Journey you can affirm and inspire him or her on toward an entrepreneurial calling? Then we’ll see if the Left can sell that young hero Common Core and the low expectations of government schools.

Who did I love, and who loved me? 

Often when we focus on national issues, we neglect the most important task of all.

Almost all of William F. Buckley’s obituaries begin with gratitude, as the author, now famous, recalls Buckley’s kindness and attention when he or she was a “nobody.” Bill Buckley gravitated to the least powerful person in the room and made them feel important. I know, because of the many nights I was able to speak with him, when I was the least important person in the room. And I loved him for it.

Recently a friend, who donates his time to coach a local football team, sent me an email from a father of one of his players who had suffered a head injury in a game.

“As I watch our son, there are so many thoughts. How long do we let this high pressure in his head continue? Could I have done something? Is God punishing me?

“When it’s your child on the line, you think so much differently. You don’t care what it would take to bring them back. You just want to hold them in your arms one more time. Maybe that is what the Lord is teaching me, maybe that’s what he’s teaching all of us—that love is the most important ingredient in life.”

Who did I love, and who loved me? The most important question of all.

Some Final Words

If you are a freedom fighter, you are my hero. Buffeted and bruised by daily battles, it’s natural to ask whether or not you are making a difference. But the hero’s journey isn’t about winning.

I asked a principled Texas Representative if our side won the latest legislative session. He paused for a long time before answering: “I don’t really know. But that’s not my job. My job is to do my best, to do my duty to protect freedom. That’s all. God decides the rest.”

Heroes don’t always win. But we do always get back up. That’s what makes us heroes. Now is the best time to be a freedom fighter, because it’s the time we have been given. The dangerous, passionate calling we have chosen is worth it. So let’s get back to the fight.

Thank you and God bless you.