“Mom, I don’t understand, ” he said as we left the ball field after practice. “Jesse (not his real name) said he was my friend. I thought we were buddies, but he was mean to me tonight. What did I do wrong?”
These, and other questions like it, are becoming the norm for my almost ten year old son, and I feel a little bit like I’m watching his innocence slip away. I’d like to stay camped in a world where friends are nice to each other all the time, and he never has to experience hard things. With every inch he grows it seems there are more and more questions to be answered, and in my heart I know he’s learning to interpret the world through the lens of his faith…learning to live what he believes.
Every boy—really, every human—goes through this process of learning to understand the world around him. Eventually, it becomes obvious that what we teach them at home about the way things should be, aren’t always the way they are. Life is hard, and challenges abound—challenges I never even conceived of when I was their age…
- The availability of porn.
- Cyber bullying.
- Too many activities to choose from.
- Pressure to succeed that devalues the lessons learned from failure.
In the face of these challenges, how do we teach them to live what they believe?
- No matter what…
- No matter the cost…
How do we empower our sons to be men of integrity, courage, and strength in a world that seems to value lies, cowardice, and whatever feels good at the moment?
During the month of May, we’ll spend some time unpacking these issues, providing you with practical tips for teaching your boys to live what they believe. We hope you’ll join us in this important exploration.
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Serving Together,
Brooke
Brooke McGlothlin is co-founder and President of Raising Boys Ministries. She’s a mother of two boys who believes God has chosen her to fight for the hearts of her sons. She can be found most often on her knees in prayer, not because she’s so holy, but because God is. Not because she knows how to raise godly men, but because she believes so much in the God who loves them more than she does.
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