Saturday night, my husband and I took our two sons, ages 8 and 10, to see the new movie from the Kendricks Brothers, War Room.

It features well-known leaders in the Christian world, like Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, and even a guy I had classes with at Liberty University (who I’m sure doesn’t remember me). It’s built around the life of Miss Clara—an elderly woman who lost her husband to a heart attack many years ago, and a younger woman who is about to lose her marriage to fighting, infidelity, and deception.

I loved the whole movie, and I highly recommend taking your family to see it as soon as possible. There are some scenes that are a little mature (alluding to sex, and a couple who aren’t married having dinner and talking about going back to her apartment), but my boys (who have had “The Talk“) handled them just fine. Overall, it was a story about the power of a victorious prayer life, believing God at his word, and how God always wins in the end. I loved it. My family did, too.

But there was one part of the movie that really struck me, and made me think about the way many of us are living our lives. 

Early in the movie, it becomes clear that Liz, the main character, is completely unaware of what’s happening in her daughter’s life. She can’t tell her the name of her double dutch team, what their team colors are, what her teacher’s name is, or a myriad of other small details a mom should really know.

When she realizes how bad it is, she’s broken, and immediately makes changes. And as it turns out, her desire for change is what stimulates change in the whole family. But it made me think…

Do I Really KNOW My Sons?

How to Really KNOW Your Son (September Series)

How to Really KNOW Your Son (September Series)

When my oldest son was around 22 months old (and I was big and pregnant with #2) I began attending a parenting class at our church. My boys came out of the womb hard-to-handle, and my husband and I had already been struggling for 22 months to get things right. With #2’s birth looming in the not-so-distant future, we decided to get some help from the experts, and so attended the class.

The first thing that struck me, as we listened to seasoned parents talk about raising their children, and read books on learning to reach the hearts of ours, was that if I really wanted to raise godly men, it was going to take a lot of my time.

I looked at our lives, full to the brim with work, church, and everything else that was available to young couples with new children, and realized that things were going to have to change.

Time and attention are what’s needed to reach our children’s hearts.
Not extra money, not every Bible study known to man, not youth group, or travel sports, or a well-rounded education. To reach our children’s hearts we have to really know who they are.

After years of biblical study on parenting, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no one size fits all. What works for your son might not work for mine. Why? Because God created them as individuals, with individual likes, dislikes, gifts, talents, and needs.

That’s why we’re so exited about our September Series, How to Really KNOW Your Son. It’s all about the process of becoming a student of your son so you can know how to reach his heart.

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