Rascal

About as Disney as you can get, "Rascal" is the story about a boy and his raccoon. We've seen it before: a boy takes in a wild animal, animal causes mischief, neighbors blame animal and get mad at kid, and by the end of the film the boy must release the animal back into the wild.

But in today's deluge of computer generated craziness, this quiet little bit of Americana stands out as authentic and full of heart. I was actually worried that the pace was too slow for my kids as the movie started, but was pleasantly surprised to see them all enthralled by 5 minutes in.

While the main plot of Rascal is entertaining enough, there is also a subplot about a free-spirited dad realizing his growing boy's need for his involvement. Dads sensitive to the topics discussed on this blog will appreciate the realization the father makes.

Overall, a great family movie to watch and enjoy. I rented it through NetFlix, but it seems to be available for purchase as well.

Rascal

Modesty

My wife and I were rolling our eyes this morning that the latest American Girl Magazine You Pick It topic (where girls get to send in their stories/poems/etc) was "Fashion Frenzy". Our daughter was so excited to find out the topic, but kind of looked bewildered when she saw what it was.

The fact is, fashion has become an increasingly important topic to her peers, and even though she is a little behind the curve (thankfully), it is starting to become important to her as well. As this change takes place we are working hard to keep the concept of modesty in the forefront of our conversations.

Here are a couple of websites that are among the very few voices talking about modesty in fashion for girls without becoming over-zealous and weird about it:

Girl Talk Blog

Modestly Yours Blog

Modesty Survey

Mountains to Climb

Afraid to take a risk with your son? Concerned you may be overprotective and not letting your son experience the fullness of what it means to be a man-in-training?

This short little article about a blind boy, his desire to climb a mountain, and his father's reactions inspired me to examine some of my thoughts on this topic. I like this quote from the article:

I know what it takes to prepare and I am aware of the risks and hazards involved, some of which can be very serious, Marty said. “As I considered taking Cody up a mountain, worrisome thoughts pounded my mind. What if something happened? What would his grandparents think, or his mother? What would the neighbors say? I had visions of it.

“That careless, reckless father, what was he thinking? Doesn’t he know better than to take a blind kid mountain climbing? That’s just asking for trouble.”

I wonder how often we fall into this same mindset in other aspects of raising our boys? Do we "play it safe" to avoid failure or embarrassment?

May we have the courage to follow God's Spirit in our efforts to train up our sons, and as the closing of the article encourages, may we have an attitude that says:

If we hadn’t made it, we’d just have tried again, until we did

Mountains to Climb

Christian Manhood

Some commentary on Philippians 2:19-30 by Ray C. Stedman that reminds us that our identities are not lost in Christ, but truly realized:

Did you notice something about these two men, Timothy and Epaphroditus--two quite different personalities, weren't they? But the same essential character in each, for the secret of these two men is not that they struggled and tried to live heroic lives with a devil-may-care attitude. But shining through each man's life is the splendor of Jesus Christ. Their personalities, you see, were not destroyed. They were enhanced by the presence of Christ. ...

He does not destroy the essential man; he indwells it, he enhances it, he glorifies it. The result is true manhood, true womanhood, attractive and beautiful and easy to live with. Man as God intended man to be becomes manifest in the world.

Christian Manhood

Stanley London Manhood Gifts

So you've made the decision to create a cermony for your son to celebrate his passage toward manhood, but you have no idea what kind of gift to get him?

I've shared in the past a great place to get engraved stones/rocks, but here is another website with a large selection of brass instruments like compasses, sextants, telescopes, other nautical instruments, and even swords. They'll do custom engraving on most of their items.

I purchased a compass from them and had it engraved with some principles around "Choosing a Direction" and the verses Proverbs 3:5-6 for my son on his 10th birthday. It turned out great!

Stanley London

King Me

In his no-nonsense style, Steve Farrar delivers a great book that fits in nicely with the genre of "raising sons to be Godly men" books. Whereas others focus primarily on the vision of Biblical manhood (like RaMDK), Steve focuses this book on the nuts and bolts of the process.

While he does not provide a step-by-step "do this at this age" game plan, he does deal head on with many of the issues you will face over and over again as you work to raise your son. Using kings of the Old Testament as a backdrop, he examines the critical role a father plays in preparing his son to become a godly man.

Especially needful for us post-modern dads is his treatment (2 chapters worth) of the whys and hows of discipline. If you ever worry that you are bruising your son's self esteem or "scarring him for life" when you enforce boundaries, read Steve's thoughts for a swift boot in the rear.

Overall a great book with sage advice that will help you to build your son into the man God wants him to be.

King Me
Author:	Steve Farrar
ISBN:	0802433197
Genre:	Religion & Spirituality/Christianity
Recommended:	Yes
Score:	9 out of 10
Summary:	What Every Son Wants and Needs from His Father

Organic Faith - Rites of Passage Celebrations

From the Organic Faith website under the Featured Resource header comes a great little pdf article on Rites of Passage Celebrations:

Tips and ideas for developing meaningful experiences that help mark the transition from childhood to manhood. These ideas will help youth leaders and parents develop Biblically-based rite of passage events for teenage young men.

Organic Faith - Rites of Passage Celebrations

All Pro Dad

This NFL sponsored program was launched 10 years ago with the help of NFL coach Tony Dungy, because of his admiration and love for his father, Wilbur. Looks like it has continued to grow and expand its offerings.

All Pro Dad is Family First's innovative program helping men to be better fathers. All Pro Dad's 43 NFL spokesmen, multiple NFL seminars, 550 All Pro Dad's Days, and Play of the Day daily emails that reach almost 31,000 fathers each day, all inspire and equip fathers to be actively involved in their children's lives. And every month, over 90,000 fathers log onto AllProDad.com to benefit from insightful fatherhood resources.

I took a look at the articles section and was very impressed with the tone...while not overtly Christian, it is obvious there is a strong Christian influence. There are many mentions of the importance of faith, servant-leadership, and strong family bonds. Looks like registration is open for a local "Carolina Panthers father & Kids Experience."

Check it out:

All Pro Dad

Stereotypes of Men in Media

Here's a quick article from the Media Awareness Network that summarizes a recent report identifying the most common male stereotypes portrayed in the media.

When I read it I immediately felt outraged and bemoaned the "evil Hollywood machine"...but as I thought about it more, I had to admit that in the past I have portrayed and accepted these stereotypes in my own life.

Hopefully seeing these for what they are will help us avoid falling into them. Especially hard to stomach is this one:

The Buffoon commonly appears as a bungling father figure in TV ads and sitcoms. Usually well-intentioned and light-hearted, these characters range from slightly inept to completely hopeless when it comes to parenting their children or dealing with domestic (or workplace) issues.

I hope to never portray that stereotype again!

Common Stereotypes of Men in Media

Coat of Arms Design

At some point in my studies of knighthood and creating a manhood plan for my boys, I realized that I would want to display a family coat of arms. A little research turned up that the commonly held acceptance of a "surname coat of arms" is really a misconception. In fact it was quite freeing to find out:

The bearing of coats of arms is not regulated in most countries, including the United States, thus there has been a proliferation of "family name" companies offering histories and coats of arms for a given surname. While there is no reason we cannot enjoy the decoration of a coat of arms associated with someone centuries ago who shared our surname, we should be aware that this is all that it is -- a decoration.

There is also no reason we cannot create a coat of arms and crest for ourselves, whether based on the coat of arms of an ancestor who shared our name (and may or may not be related to us), or designed from scratch to mean something special to our own lives and family.

A site that has been a great resource for historical info, an introduction to heraldic conventions, and a collection of symbolic meanings as well as offering products around the production of custom coat of arms is:

Fleur-de-lis Designs

Developing a Family Mission Statement

I posted once in the past on the benefits of having a family mission statement and provided a link to a quick start builder provided by Franklin Covey.

Here's a static document that lists needs, benefits, problems, and guidelines as well as some great Biblical examples of mission statements.

This would be a great place to start for family mottoes and crests as well.

Developing a Family Mission Statement