"Four Things Every Boy Needs"

[Mountain Merle]

In a lot of ways I had an idyllic childhood so it is really hard on my sensibilities to read the horror stories about abuse this last while. Why was I so lucky? I grieve for those who have forever lost their innocence; especially heartbreaking is when they lost their innocence to someone who was supposed to be a mentor and protector.
I wish I could give every boy a childhood like mine. Which made me think of a blog post I wrote some years back; I will link it here to possibly help start the discussion. Keep in mind that most of the time I tend to write a little tongue-in-cheek.
Also I lift up living in the country pretty highly; I realize that more and more people are feeling called to the cities to live out the Christian life in an urban setting. I'm all for that, if that's your family, I commend you. Just be sure to drop Johnny off at
Grampa and Gramma's house for a couple weeks in the summer so he so he gets that country experience every boy needs.

http://findmeontheroadlesstraveled.blog ... needs.html

[mike]

I have six boys and I appreciate this.

[Josh]

Some of us, believe it or not, grew up in cities and our grandparents lived in cities too.

In fact, that’s true of the majority of people in North America...

[Somebody]

The Fifth Thing Every Boy Needs: A Dog - or a pet of some kind.

[Josh]

But a park is everybody in the city's woods. A boy needs a woods of his own. Outfitted with nothing more than his imagination, a boy can spend countless happy hours in a woods. He could be Daniel Boone, Robin Hood or Robinson Crusoe all in the same day without any problem at all.

Thing 2. A Creek
I can't imagine how any boy can grow up properly without spending half of his summer submerged in a creek. One summer we built a small raft and were Huck Finn and Jim on the Mississippi.Somewhere back in the archives is a whole post on this subject entitled "The Old Swimmin' Hole". We spent countless happy hours in the creek. Every boy needs one.

This seems to essentially be an argument that what a boy needs is to be descended from wealthy land-owners.

Stop and consider for a bit that it is simply not practical for most families to provide a private forest and a private waterway to their children.

[hillperson]

In a lot of ways I had an idyllic childhood so it is really hard on my sensibilities to read the horror stories about abuse this last while. Why was I so lucky? I grieve for those who have forever lost their innocence; especially heartbreaking is when they lost their innocence to someone who was supposed to be a mentor and protector.
I wish I could give every boy a childhood like mine. Which made me think of a blog post I wrote some years back; I will link it here to possibly help start the discussion. Keep in mind that most of the time I tend to write a little tongue-in-cheek.
Also I lift up living in the country pretty highly; I realize that more and more people are feeling called to the cities to live out the Christian life in an urban setting. I'm all for that, if that's your family, I commend you. Just be sure to drop Johnny off at
Grampa and Gramma's house for a couple weeks in the summer so he so he gets that country experience every boy needs.

http://findmeontheroadlesstraveled.blog ... needs.html

This list would help with the growing problem of energetic boys cooped up in apartments being raised by mothers. These boys are often labeled ADHD and most really do have behavior issues.

I read somewhere those energetic boys used to be valued on the farm because they had the energy to get a lot done. Now they’re stifled and made to feel like a failure so often.

[Josh]

This list would help with the growing problem of energetic boys cooped up in apartments being raised by mainly by mothers who are labeled ADHD.

I read somewhere those energetic boys used to be valued on the farm because they had the energy to get a lot done. Now they’re stifled and made to feel like a failure so often.

Yet we live in a country of 330 million people, and there isn’t enough resources to give every family its own farm. And there’s no family unit for a lot of them to even have a dad at home. 40% of births now are to unwed mothers (CDC 2017).

We will never be able to fix these broken family units. Nor will be able to create 100 million farms for boys to play on.

So how do we go forward sharing the gospel and ministry of reconciliation with energetic boys raised by mothers cooped up in apartment? I happen to know a few of these mothers and boys. They are busy working, earning $12/hr just to barely be able to pay rent and bills each month.

What’s Jesus look like here? I never saw Jesus go out and create some idyllic rural lifestyle. He did something radically different.

[RZehr]

The Fifth Thing Every Boy Needs: A Dog - or a pet of some kind.

That’s what I thought when I read the list too. Yesterday I brought home a dog, and watched how my boys and girls interacted with it.

[mike]

This list would help with the growing problem of energetic boys cooped up in apartments being raised by mainly by mothers who are labeled ADHD.

I read somewhere those energetic boys used to be valued on the farm because they had the energy to get a lot done. Now they’re stifled and made to feel like a failure so often.

Yet we live in a country of 330 million people, and there isn’t enough resources to give every family its own farm. And there’s no family unit for a lot of them to even have a dad at home. 40% of births now are to unwed mothers (CDC 2017).

We will never be able to fix these broken family units. Nor will be able to create 100 million farms for boys to play on.

So how do we go forward sharing the gospel and ministry of reconciliation with energetic boys raised by mothers cooped up in apartment? I happen to know a few of these mothers and boys. They are busy working, earning $12/hr just to barely be able to pay rent and bills each month.

What’s Jesus look like here? I never saw Jesus go out and create some idyllic rural lifestyle. He did something radically different.

Valid questions. I think Jesus would take his boys with him where he went in the outdoors, would teach them to work with their hands, and to enjoy his father's world.

[hillperson]

This list would help with the growing problem of energetic boys cooped up in apartments being raised by mainly by mothers who are labeled ADHD.

I read somewhere those energetic boys used to be valued on the farm because they had the energy to get a lot done. Now they’re stifled and made to feel like a failure so often.

Yet we live in a country of 330 million people, and there isn’t enough resources to give every family its own farm. And there’s no family unit for a lot of them to even have a dad at home. 40% of births now are to unwed mothers (CDC 2017)

We will never be able to fix these broken family units. Nor will be able to create 100 million farms for boys to play on.

So how do we go forward sharing the gospel and ministry of reconciliation with energetic boys raised by mothers cooped up in apartment? I happen to know a few of these mothers and boys. They are busy working, earning $12/hr just to barely be able to pay rent and bills each month.

What’s Jesus look like here? I never saw Jesus go out and create some idyllic rural lifestyle. He did something radically different.

If all Christians would help a couple boys it would impact the next generation.

I heard a speaker last year say if one family in every Christian church in American would foster. It would take care of the need for foster parents in America. And I think it’s the same with this problem do what you can in the communities you’re a part of. Mike has some great ideas. Make it possible for boys to attend summer camps. If you have a property with a woods and creek share it.