Things I Should Have Taught My Sons

Here's a re-post of a blog entry from 2008 from Ron Edmondson's blog.

Everyone's aware of the fairly recent phenomenon of the Bucket List, "the things I want to do before I die"...and I have to admit I have spent some time thinking about what mine would be.

But the simple (and arguably more practical) premise of his post is "the things I want my boys to know, but I don’t think I ever taught them". Man, does that hit me between the eyes!

With my oldest now out of the house and on his own, I'm finding there are quite a few of these in my own life...even though I started consciously enacting the principles of my blog with him from the age of 10. It is all the more practical for me to make this list since I still have two younger boys in the home.

Take the time and come up with your own list...I know I will.

7 Things I Should Have Taught My Sons

At The Cross

I know a place, a wonderful place
Where accused and condemned,
Find mercy and grace
Where the wrongs we have done,
And the wrongs done to us
Were nailed there with Him,
There on the cross

At the cross
He died for our sin
At the cross
He gave us life again

Noble Warriors

Here's a men's group in Richmond, VA with lots of info and resources:

Through a variety of ministry and service experiences men will be challenged to measure their manhood against a biblical model rather than contemporary culture. Consequently, these men will become spiritually alive in Christ, investing significantly in their personal spiritual growth as well as the spiritual growth of their wives and children.

Noble Warriors

Quest for Christlike Manhood

Always great to find another blog with the same heart to encourage men in their Christian walk.

Here's a great blog I just found out about that does just that. Check it out:

Quest for Christlike Manhood

Lead Me

Ok, I'm a little behind the curve on this one, but I just heard Sanctus Real's song "Lead Me" for the first time a few days ago...and man did it blow me out of the water!

Funny because recently we did our traditional family New Year's "areas I want to grow in" chart. It is basically 4 circles labeled: Spirtual, Emotional, Mental, and Physical.

In each circle we write the things we want to improve in or change about ourselves for each category. In the center of the entire diagram is a small space for us to write one central, over-arching thing that we want to work on for the year that impacts everything else.

Mine just happened to be: "Be a better leader".

Imagine the impact of hearing the song after that!

Here are some of the lyrics and links to find out more if you haven't yet heard the song...

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I am called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't you lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love
Chasing dreams that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

LEAD ME LYRICS - SANCTUS REAL

Listen on Playlist.com

The Story Behind the Song

All Parents Homeschool

Here's a re-post of the "Play of the Day" from All Pro Dad.

The title grabbed my attention since we homeschool our kids (and we are quite proud of that fact), but I realize that is not a option or doesn't fit for every family.

Regardless, we parents must remember that we are daily teaching our kids; attitudes, habits, world views, etc. This happens in our home. If you want to talk about your kids being successful in life, realize that having involved parents is the single biggest indicator of a child's success:

...even if parents send their children off to school to learn, they are almost singlehandedly the only factor that matters in their kids' educational success.

Important to remember!

All Parents Homeschool

Christian Bushido

I had a chance to watch The Last Samurai again last night. Still a great movie (even with Tom Cruise!) and definitely in my top 5 "warrior movies".

The movie develops a thread concerning Bushido, the Samurai code of honor. Here's a site that takes those concepts, ostensibly derived from Shinto and Buddhism, and puts them in a Biblical light.

This could be very useful in developing a Christian code of conduct for a a child who is interested in Asian martial arts.

Code of Bushido