Raising Real Men

This morning over breakfast we had a very enlightening discussion. We asked the question, “What purpose do you think God had in making you big brother to your little brothers and sisters? What do you think He wants you to accomplish in their lives?”

Not many movies had me in tears in the opening sequence. “Courageous” did. I’m not an “early adopter” of whatever comes down the road–I think I didn’t upgrade to Windows 95 until Windows 98 came out. Movies are a little different, and there may not be many days left in the theater schedule for this…
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In an age when the divorce rate among Christians differs in no respect from that of unbelievers, to the shame of the church, we seem to have forgotten what a vow is. This weekend I had the privilege of seeing what it means to an older generation to promise “For better or for worse.”

The story of the marriage of my grandparents is not a happily-ever-after one…

When we were growing up, my brother (love you, hon!) was the pickiest eater ever. He didn’t like cheese. He didn’t like eggs. He didn’t like most vegetables, just green beans, English peas and corn. .”

While describing our family’s annual New Year’s meeting, Melanie mentioned my journal.  I tried keeping a diary when I was a kid, with limited success.  My English teacher in high school introduced us to “journalling” for literary practice — an idea I didn’t really catch up with until blogging came around. Go looking for a “diary”…
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From time to time it’s helpful to ask, and try to answer, the question of just what is a “real man.”  I recently saw a book criticizing the commercialization of boyhood.  The cover artwork showed a hapless young man about ten or twelve years old.  He was wearing a football helmet, shoulder pads, and Superman…
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Last night at 3am there wasn’t a flake to be seen, but by 6am snow was absolutely everywhere. No big deal if you live in Maine, but in eastern North Carolina, it’s a very rare occurrence. The biggest snow we’d had was the snow-icaine of 2000. We got 11 inches, which is about 5 times…
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As we mentioned the other day, one of our Thanksgiving traditions is to talk about the things we are thankful for during the feast. Today was kind of different. Usually there is a slow start, then an increasingly interactive conversation about all of God’s blessings. Today when we asked the question, “What are you thankful for?” everyone…
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Yesterday while I was writing about our Thanksgiving traditions for this blog, I looked up George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in preparation for suggesting you share it with your family. As I read it, I felt increasingly sad. George Washington thanked God “for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed.” I thought…
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We just love Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday! Leading up to the day, we teach our children great hymns of Thanksgiving, such as “We Gather Together,”  “Come Ye Thankful People, Come,”  “Count Your Blessings,” and “Now Thank We All Our God.” We particularly love “We Gather Together,” because it was a Dutch song of the proper…
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