Courage
Young men have a tremendous desire to try their strength and to be tested in return. This is integral to their competitive nature, but let's take a look at how it impacts their interaction with the real world, not the contrived world of competitions. Adults sometimes equate a desire for adventure with immaturity and recklessness.…
When we were teenagers, we couldn't wait to get our driver's license. It was a step toward adulthood, and we were eager to have the independence that driving represented. All our friends felt the same way, and our parents encouraged it. Recently, though, we've been hearing something which frankly surprised us. We were listening to…
Over the years, our six boys tried basketball, soccer, baseball, and finally football – which is where most of them settled in. Along the way we learned a few things that make a big difference in the experience for your kids and for the whole family. First, understand sports and competition are not un-Christian! Paul…
Here's a neat resource you can download for free and share with your sons in honor of Presidents Day -- examples from the lives of great men who have led our country! Several years before he became our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt and his friend Henry Cabot Lodge wrote a collection of stories to teach…
After our first few children learned to read so early and easily, we thought we were some ol’ wonderful homeschoolers. Then came our next child – and humility! It was really tough, but we got through it and he’s now a very successful college student. Here are some things that helped: Don’t despair – and don’t let…
I’ll never forget the call. “We’ve got our daughters back!” It had been a few months earlier that this mom called for the first time. “Can you please talk to me about homeschooling special needs children?” she said. “We’ve got to do something! Our twins used to be such happy little girls, but I realized…
Melanie has a recurring dream that she is back in college, final exams are approaching, and suddenly she realizes with horror that she’s been signed up for a class that she’s forgotten to attend all semester. Thankfully, that never actually happened to her, but that kind of panic feels pretty familiar sometimes. We’ve had a…
At an old English parsonage down by the sea, there came in the twilight a message to me. Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven that, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven. And all through the hours the quiet words ring, like a low inspiration, 'Do the next thing.' (more…)
When we were working on our workshop on purity for boys, we were surprised at some of the research we found that says that the average age of first (and hopefully only!) marriage has gone up drastically in the last generation. For men, the median age has gone up from 22 or 23 to 28…
When you grow up in the Carolinas, you get used to thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches. They're so commonplace, most people seem to ignore them until the wind actually picks up and sirens blow. The National Weather Service is testing new messages (like,"You could be killed"), but I'm not waiting for the NWS. A couple of videos…