To Be A Man

TO BE A MAN
is to possess the strength to love another,
not the need to dominate others.

TO BE A MAN
is to experience the courage to accept another,
not the compulsion to be an aggressor.

TO BE A MAN
is to keep faith with godly values in relationships,
not to value oneself by position or possessions.

TO BE A MAN
is to be free to give love
and to be free to accept love in return.

Respect

I'm teaching a class at our homeschool co-op again this year...my 4th grader insisted I teach one of his classes! (since I have taught for his older brother and sister in the past)

I needed to come up with some class rules to share the first day and the typical "raise your hand before talking" and "don't touch your neighbors belongings" just weren't cutting it, so I dug a little deeper.

Basically it seems like those rules all come down to respect:

re·spect

tr.v. re·spect·ed, re·spect·ing, re·spects

1. To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem.

2. To avoid violation of or interference with.

3. Willingness to show consideration or appreciation.

So, I formulated our class rules using the KISS principle:

1. Respect God
2. Respect the Teacher
3. Respect Each Other

That pretty much covers anything that could happen in a classroom. For that matter, with a small tweak that covers everything in a home as well.

Now, the sticky point comes in the enforcement of the rules....

Royal Family Kids' Camps

A few years ago my wife and I thought the Lord was leading us to start and run a themed camp for kids. It turns out He has lead us in a different direction, but at the time I did a lot of research on the topic.

One existing camp I came across that really captures the heart of this kind of endeavor is Royal Family Kids Camp. Their website says:

Most of us have experienced an encouraging word or kind gesture when we were at our deepest low, and we know how life changing it was. Since 1985, we have lifted children from the deepest pits of depair and given them hope that they can take one more step toward a better tomorrow and a brighter future. We are the nation's leading network of camps for abused, neglected and abandoned children. Our mission is to create positive memories for abused and neglected children ages 7-11, in a one-week camp experience.

Find out more here:

Royal Family Kids' Camps

Designed Dilemmas

Quick but insightful article by Tim Kimmel about leaving our kids a legacy by teaching them real life lessons:

I call this a "designed dilemma." It's creating a situation or an environment in which children are forced to focus on their needs as well as draw conclusions about their lives.

A loving legacy must be transferred, not just given. It must be embraced and appropriated into the core of our children's hearts. We can't be satisfied with modeling (as important as that is). We must develop lessons for our children that compel them to wrestle with (and therefore remember) critical truths.

Designed dilemmas lend strong support to one of the most worthy of all ambitions: Raising kids who turn out right.

Cody's Lesson - FamilyLife.com

Integrity

The person you are in private should match the person you are in public. That’s integrity. There are many things we as dads can do to pass this on to our kids.

How do we raise kids who possess integrity in a culture that seems to value image more than character? Like many things, integrity is more often caught than taught.

Here's a good little article on integrity and how it is passed on to our kids. I especially like the "You Might Be an Integrity Infector If" list:

You Might Be An Integrity Infector If:

• Your kids talk to you so much that you get worn out at times.
• Your kids like being with you.
• You like being with your kids.
• You and your kids joke around and laugh together a lot.
• You and your kids handle your mistakes humorously. Your kids kid you about them.
• You can talk somewhat intelligently about what’s going on in their world.
• You ask questions about what’s going on in their world.
• They ask you “why” questions. You welcome and applaud questions of any sort.
• You can handle their “why” questions without being overly threatened by them.
• They display remorse when caught in misbehavior.
• On occasion, they admit to misbehaviors even before you discover them.
• You use incidences of misbehavior to explain why correct behavior is important.
• Your kids don’t lie well. You’re able to tell when they are being dishonest.
• They’ve seen you be honest on occasions when you could have gotten away with dishonesty.
• Your kids seem to understand why you have the rules you do. They ask questions about them more than they complain about them.

Infecting Your Kids with Integrity