Raising our Boys::Vol. 2 (the retreat and the mohawk)

I don't even know where to begin.....

Let's start with the mohawk. It is a story that starts months and months ago.To sum up a very long story quickly, he's wanted his hair cut like this for a long time. We recently attempted to "lay down the law" about the issue and then realized we were probably making a parenting mistake by doing so. So Rand decided to take the clippers up to the cabin for the retreat and allow him to make his own decision in regards to his hair. It seemed appropriate considering the theme of the weekend....growing up and all. Does he like it? Um, yes. He loves it. Our opinion is beside the point, and we'll just leave it at that. It feels a bit like the lesson about the whole thing was more for us than for him.

So, as for the retreat, Brendan's induction into the first phase of his "knighthood training" (ie, becoming a man) was great success as far as I'm told.

Here is a list of many of the things they did:
1. Ate dinner
2. Rand interviewed Brendan concerning how he could improve as a dad.
3. Gave Brendan a binder containing the info. they were going to cover and also the things we will be focusing on as we parent him from here forward. It is something that Brendan can reference as the years go by as a guide and also as a memento.
4. Played Risk
5.Played in the campground gym--discussed "Areas of Life", Luke 10:27
6. Ate breakfast--discussed Proverbs 1:7, 7 Marks of a Right Heart, The Gospel and the "exchanged life"
7. Played Frisbee Golf
8. Prayed at the chapel that is at Hole Nine of Golf course
9. Played catch
10. Played ping-pong, basketball--discussed Vision for Manhood, 4 Expectations of a Man, John 15:5, and Code of Conduct
11. Hung out in Cabin--Read Bible together on couch--story of Joseph and Potipher's wife (went with the code of conduct talk concerning Purity)
12. Lunch--Read and discussed Ephesians 6:10-17, prayed Caleb's Prayer
13. Went to a movie, drove home
14. Dinner as a family--discussed the trip together
15. Gave Brendan his gift and prayed for him

All the things that they covered such as "Caleb's prayer", "Code of Conduct", "Expectation of a Man", etc... were obviously not unique to us. They were things we came across in our research that we decided to include in our version of "manhood training" for our boys. If you're interested in some of the places we found these things, let me know!

Here is our growing boy!

gassin' up--oh look, that's our new car! :) And also...before the haircut

That is our "family crest" that Rand designed

yep. he likes the hairdo.