Bringing Up Boys

I'd appreciate your prayers as I make plans soon to take my son, Daniel, on his initial boys' weekend.  He is 11 years old (will be 12 in only about 2 months), and I believe it's time to have "the talk" with him.  I know he has a lot of questions to ask.  And I need to finalize my list of important topics as well.

We did this with our girls at the same age, but my wife Felicia handled those weekends.  And she is much smarter than me anyway.  So I've got my work cut out for me.  My plan is to cover some of the basics, answer all his questions truthfully, talk about purity & why it's important, give some wisdom on girls (who they are, how God made them, how they're different from boys, how guys should serve girls, how guys should honor girls, etc.), talk a little about marriage & how God designed it, relate that discussion to the idea of dating & how to approach it, talk a little about sex & how God designed it only for marriage, briefly warn him about the dangers involved with premarital sex, see what the Bible says about the roles of men & women, discuss God's unique plan for Daniel, read a lot of Scripture together, pray together, and more as God leads.  Now, that's a lot to cover in a few days.  Which means we'll probably need a follow-up discussion or two along the way.  Especially as I finalize the list of things to discuss with him.

Some of you may read this and wonder....what is he doing?  My wife and I strongly believe that we own the responsibility to raise our children biblically.  Part of that responsibility is to train them up in the areas of biblical manhood & womanhood and how to approach relationships with the opposite sex....before they are put in a position to make their choices without thinking clearly.  I believe we've seen evidence of how this has profited our girls, and it's now time to train up our boys.

I confess that it was easier for me to manage this expectation when Felicia was doing all the work with the girls.  But I know that God will provide for me as well.  I'm trusting Him to do what only He can do....I'm just thankful for the opportunity to go along for the ride.

I'm thankful for all the godly men that the Lord has brought into my life that have encouraged me in this upcoming task.  I pray that I will honor the Lord in my words and actions.  I also pray that Daniel (and Matthew, too) will grow into a young man that desires to please God in all of his life.

Pastor Randy