Raising Godly Boys Minute

A reporter asked Thomas Edison, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”One of the greatest inventions of the 19th century was the lightbulb. But creating the lightbulb required lots of trial and error. Failure is a part of life. In fact, it’s normal and natural. And even though no one likes to fail, it teaches us to do better and to strive harder as we reach for our goals.Boys need a challenge. Even though trying something new may result in failure, that failure is helping them develop important character traits that are essential for future success.Are you helping your boys learn from failure? Visit Trail Life USA or RaisingGodlyBoys.com for practical tips on how to help your boys grow into godly young men.

Have you ever walked across a rickety bridge and wondered if it could manage the weight?If you are carrying something heavy that fear can be very real.Carrying truth can be like that. Especially when you are carrying truth to a boy.Make sure the bridge -- your connection to that boy -- is strong enough to carry the weight of that truth.The reality with boys, particularly teens, is that simply telling them the truth isn’t enough. You’ve got to have a connection -- a bridge -- strong enough to carry that truth for the truth to have its full impact, otherwise, you are just breaking bridges.For more parenting advice and information about a Proven Process that is helping boys grow into godly men, visit Trail Life USA or RaisingGodlyBoys.com.

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 small challenge each day. This could be saying his own order at the restaurant, calling the vet to make an appointment for his dog, or completing a puzzle– anything that he would not normally choose to do himself. He may protest and find it uncomfortable, but it will strengthen his resilience muscle and build his self confidence. For more ideas on raising boys to be godly men, visit Trail Life USA or RaisingGodlyBoys.com.

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 God for wisdom, and surrendering our sons’ lives to God. This doesn’t mean we will become perfect parents– or that we will always make the right decision. But the difference between an overprotective parent and a smart parent is simply parenting not out of fear and control– but out of faith and trust in God. For encouragement on raising boys to be godly men, visit Trail Life USA or RaisingGodlyBoys.com.