I’ve seen lots of parents who instilled a dream in their children. In fact, Wailam’s (my wife’s) mother gave her the dream of studying in America. But her mother died before she could see that Wailam finished her education at the American School. As a result, Wailam had to go through a long, convoluted path before she could get to America. Of course, here she won the ultimate prize…me. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
The point is that parents need to pass along dreams, values, skills, knowledge, and insight to their children. But more importantly, we need to pass along our faith and our assurance of the salvation and sanctification that comes from God. And, I believe Terah did that, even if he didn’t get to experience the land of promise (or lost the conviction that he needed to experience the land of promise) with Abram.