Raising Godly Boys Minute

Do you get anxious?   Like a fisherman who continually casts his line in search of the big catch, we are called to continually cast our cares and concerns to God.   “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7   There are many things for us to be anxious about.. And anxiety among kids is on the rise, affecting nearly one in 10 children. Make sure you are tending to the care...

What is a phobia? It is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause harm.   There are over 400 recognized phobias out there. Ablutophobia is the fear of bathing. This condition seems to be widespread among middle school and high school boys. :o)   Fear is a normal human reaction that protects us by signaling danger and preparing us to deal with it. But fear can also be unhealthy and d...

Have you ever woken up from a long night of sleep and still felt tired?   According to the Mayo Clinic, the recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult is at least seven hours a night.   But even getting enough sleep isn’t enough to be fully rested.   As parents, we can quickly become overburdened, overwhelmed, exhausted, discouraged, and restless.   Let’s take Jesus up on his invitation in Ma...

Kids love playdough. They squeeze it and stretch it. They roll it into skinny snakes and smoosh it into wobbly clumps. As parents, we sometimes feel like playdough. We get squeezed for time and attention. Then we get stretched this way and that way. We feel smooshed and squooshed by the demands of life. When the routines of parenthood feel overwhelming, realize that you’re not alone. Because you a...

Before GPS, did you ever come to a fork in the road and think, “Which way should I go?”   Each of us eventually comes to a fork in the road – literally and figuratively – where we will have to decide which way to go.   As Christ-followers, we have the perfect navigator in our lives. God knows what’s down each road we travel; nothing surprises him. If we are unsure which way to go, we can look to h...

Have you ever trusted someone who let you down? Most of us have experienced this. Most of us have broken someone’s trust too. Yet, life requires you to trust others every day, often without thinking twice about it. The only One who will never let you down and is completely trustworthy is God. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people.” Psalm 118:8 You must seek to trust and...

With each step he took, the load felt heavier. Matthew was on a hike with a group of other boys when he realized his backpack was overloaded. He feared that if he asked for help, the other boys would make fun of him. Finally, he fell to his knees, and confessed he couldn’t carry his load. To his surprise, the boys took off Matthew’s backpack and distributed the heavy contents equally in their own...

Your son needs a place to be a boy. In 2018, the Boy Scouts of America announced that they would allow girls to join. One scoutmaster was asked, “How do you like having girls a part of your troop?” The scoutmaster answered, “We love having girls because they are so much better behaved than boys!” That answer broke my heart. Society already deems boyhood and masculinity as something negative– and n...

Fire is always destructive, right? Well, not necessarily. The knobcone pine tree relies on fire in a crazy way. In order for its seeds to escape the hard resin that traps them inside the cone, an intense heat source is required. That’s where a forest fire comes in handy. After fire melts the cone’s resin away, the cone cracks open. Seeds are then free to flutter to the ground where they can grow t...

The 4th quarter of a football game is often a nailbiter. Teams battle it out as the minutes tick off the clock. At times, it feels like that 4th quarter will last forever. But then, before you know it, the game is over. The same is true in parenting. Many boys head off to work or college after high school. That means that if your son is at least 14 years old, then he’s probably in the 4th quarter...

George Müller—an evangelist who established orphanages in the 1800s—was known for his prayer life. And yet, in addition to his faith in God’s provision, Müller was also a man of action. He wisely said, “Our walk counts far more than our talk, always!” That’s so true. You may talk to your son about patience, kindness, and self-control, but do your actions demonstrate these characteristics? If a ref...

Here’s an easy question: What does www stand for? If you answered, “world wide web,” you're right! But if you think about it, that phrase is actually quite descriptive of online content. We all know that the Internet is helpful in many different ways. And yet, it’s also a web that easily entangles boys in temptations. Violence, vulgarity, and sexuality are trapping boys in sin. Don’t let your...

See if you can answer this joke: When leaving for work, what did the daddy buffalo say to his son? . . . Bye-son!  [Bison] Maybe that joke made you groan, but tell it to your son tonight, and you’ll probably get a smile from him—maybe even a laugh. Dad jokes are corny, but they’re still fun. Of course, you and your son can have fun in a thousand other ways, but the important thing is that you have...

Did you ever play Capture-the-Flag when you were a kid? If so, you know the object of the game is to capture the opposite team’s flag before getting tagged. It’s one thing to play Capture-the-Flag, but don’t let today’s secular culture capture your son’s heart and mind. The love of money, the desires of the flesh, and the pride of life are all trying to steal his attention. And if they capture it,...

Do you like cold weather? When the temperature dips into single digits, does the frosty air make you shiver? Regardless of whether or not you like cold weather, make sure your relationship with your son is anything but frosty. At times, your son will annoy you, causing an icy chill to develop between you. When he doesn’t obey your instructions, the bitter cold of irritation may blow in. Don’t let...

Can you point to a scar on your body? Perhaps, as a kid, you cut your arm when falling off your bike, or scraped a leg while climbing a tree. Some boys think scars are cool because they tell an exciting story. But not all scars are visible. Emotional scars often hurt more than physical wounds. When correcting your son, what kind of words are you using? Hateful speech can scar a boy’s spirit and en...

Here’s an interesting parenting twist on the golden rule. Psychologist Dr. Joshua Straub suggests that, when it comes to your son, you replace the word “treat” with the word “understand.” So the golden rule then becomes “understand your son the way you want to be understood.” Now, understanding your son may seem like an impossible task– especially if he’s a teenager! But here’s some ideas to start...

Surfers don’t try to avoid the waves or control them– they learn to glide over them. In the same way, family psychologist Dr. Joshua Straub has developed three steps to help your son “surf” over his emotions, instead of stuffing them down or using them to hurt others. First, empathize with your boy’s feelings. Second, address the behavior. Explain the difference between healthy and unhealthy ways...

Johnny dropped his bat to the ground, embarrassed that he had just struck out again. But when he glanced at the crowd and saw his dad give him a reassuring nod and smile, he felt his shoulders relax. It’s easy as a parent to feel like you’ve “struck out” with your son when you lose patience or make a mistake. When this happens, you may start thinking that you’re a terrible parent, or that you’re d...

Have you given your son any “tummy time” today? “Tummy time” is a fairly new concept in the parenting world, in which parents of infants are encouraged to let their baby spend time on their stomach. Babies often protest and find it very uncomfortable. But without this valuable time, they will not strengthen critical muscles or eventually learn to crawl. No matter your son’s age, he still needs one...

What’s the difference between being a smart parent and an overprotective parent? It’s a hard balance to strike. But as Christians, we have a secret weapon that we often forget about: Prayer. Every boy is different, and parenting strategies that work well with one boy can sometimes have disastrous results with another. But the one method that will always work is hitting our knees in prayer, asking...

It only takes a small mistake– such as incorrect hip placement– to send a novice rock climber on a painful slide back down the rock wall. In the same way, there’s a small mistake you can make in disciplining your son that can cause you to lose ground with him: getting too emotional. It can be difficult to not cry or raise your voice when addressing heavy topics with your boy. But as soon as you sh...

f you could pick a superpower as a parent, what would it be? The ability to teleport your son to every sports practice instead of making the long drive? Researchers have found that every parent has a “superpower” of sorts that can improve their relationship with their son, help him avoid perfectionism, and promote emotional health. It’s  simply this: an apology. There’s no need to make your apolog...

Who does your child really belong to? I’ll give you a hint: It’s not you. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 God is the creator and owner of everyone and everything. We are called to be his ambassador and steward everyone and everything he’s given to us. Author Paul Tripp says it’s vital for us to understand that...

Did you know that a recurve bow arrow can fly 2.5 times faster than a cheetah can run?   This type of arrow can reach speeds of 150 miles per hour, while the world’s fastest cheetah maxes out at about 60 miles per hour.   The Bible likens children to arrows.   Psalm 127:3-4 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior ar...