My son, who is also my oldest will turn 12 later this year. I am now looking for resources to help him navigate the next six years of his life and as turns from a boy into a man. I am also searching the scriptures specifically for what character traits are most important in a man, so that I can develop ways to encourage those traits.
Finally, after a conversation with one of my good friends a couple of weeks ago, I am trying to think of one or more rites of passage to help him gain respect for himself and confidence in his own abilities, and to help him recognize the transition that he is making.
It seems that my transition into manhood was in fits and spurts, and that it took a while for my self-confidence to build to a point where I saw myself as an adult. I hope to help his self-confidence come along in stages, so that he may have an easier time believing in his own God-given abilities.
The current book that I am looking at is Future Men, by Douglas Wilson. I have read one or two of Wilson’s other books. He comes from a very conservative point of view, almost fundamentalist. For example, he believes that boys should never play with dolls. I am not sure that I am quite that conservative. So far, the book is giving a good philosophical framework for the importance of training boys to be men.
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[...] in less than a month. I have been working for the last couple of years to figure out how to grow him into a man. I am still trying to figure out rites of passage. Spiritual [...]
Intentionality - Raising a Godly Man, on October 21st, 2007 at 11:54 pm