Manly Virtues
Homeschool conventions are pretty heavily loaded with (1) Visionary Things and (2) Nuts and Bolts Things. We do some of each, though we try to put lots of practical help in the visionary presentations and make sure the practical sessions are based on the Word. But convention organizers are always looking around for some sessions that are a little…
Earlier this week we started our third class of "Boot Camp 9-12", and we talked about our approach for training our boys. I explained it something like this: The goal of all of this for our sons is to become young, strong, independent men, who can stand on their faith, and stand for God and Christ,…
George Rogers Clark fording the Wabash- If we ignore the lessons of history, we’ve been warned, we’ll be doomed to repeat them. I would say in addition, if we ignore the lessons of biographies, we’re likely not to repeat them. And given the right lives to study, missing their example would be a tragedy indeed.…
A reader wrote in last week asking for help with a son's difficulty: We are trying to "prep" our 13 year old son for an interview at our local history museum. He would like to volunteer there but they seem sceptical as to "why any 13 year old boy would want to" (according to the…
There are few disasters as riveting as a shipwreck. Thankfully they are very, very rare these days. This weekend was one of the exceptions, as the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck a reef off the coast of Italy and sank in shallow water near Isla di Giglio. It's too soon to know the full story…
Every year I try to collect a few things from the news that speak to manhood -- either a great example of true, noble, God-honoring masculinity, or a cautionary example of how easily we men fall victim to our own weaknesses. Every year, there are plenty of examples of both types. We don't claim these…
When we were young, a boy had to led astray by an unruly friend or find an ungodly uncle's stash to be tempted by pornography. Not so, now. Now, it's lurking in the sidebars when he checks the football stats and is emailed to him by spammers. Boys don't even have to go looking for…
"Can I talk to you privately?" It wasn't an unusual request, so I stepped aside with her. "I need to ask you about my son. I think he may be...I'm afraid he might be...showing some tendencies toward being...Oh, I think something's wrong with him! Maybe he's a psychopath or something!" My eyebrows went up. "What…
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="485" caption="The Alamo, 1854"][/caption] When the outnumbered defenders of the Alamo refused the Mexicans’ demand to surrender, General Santa Anna ordered his buglers to play “El Deguello” – a call meaning “no quarter”, a signal that no prisoners would be taken, and anyone surviving the assault would be put to the sword.…