Edit: The book is actually 31 chapters, not 34. Not sure where I got 34…
Here is the Amazon link, with some reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Boyhood-Beyond-Practical-Wisdom-Becoming/dp/1883934095/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381449714&sr=1-1&keywords=boyhood+and+beyond
And here is the Rainbow Resource description (also a chapter list), with a review by Karen Andreola, and others:
http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/006913/42d34121bd355927b6bb9bcb
I have been a completely single mom since my son’s birth and up until the past year or so my son has not had very much male family involvement. After my dad’s stroke last summer, my dad and younger brothers have been living with us and so my son has that daily interaction now, which has been an adjustment. =)
This book fills a gap for us. My son is probably on the side of being “too nice” by the world’s standards. If anything, he is a peacemaker and people pleaser, which is good to an extent, but I really needed him to hear/read about standing as a man of God, even when it is not your first instinct. However, I am not a Christian man to teach how to be a good Christian man, just a mom trying to pull double-duty.
What I appreciate about the book we have started with, is that the author is a Christian man speaking directly to the soon to be Christian young man about that attributes and habits that a man of God should possess. Even if your child has no problem with not wanting to accept responsibility for their actions, or admitting fault, or lying, or being nice to sister, or helping out at home, or being lazy, or not getting up on time, or keeping their relationship with God flowing (I personally needed this chapter), or feeling alone in their beliefs, or the value and wisdom of the elderly, or the beauty of writing letters of encouragement to others, or making worship a part of one’s day, or feeling misunderstood, or overcoming fear, or dealing with pain, or using his talents and abilities, or trying again after failing, etc, I think having a reiteration of how to lead the life of a good man, written directly to the boy, at a level they can understand, is greatly benefical.
It is sometimes a good reminder to myself, too. The chapter on keeping your relationship flowing was timely for me. In it, the author talks about how we shouldn’t let our pipes freeze, not letting our busy lives freeze our relationship with God, we need to keep it flowing. I almost want us to skip ahead to the chapter entitled “The Morning Watch” because I think it will provide such good direction for my son’s morning time.
Most ideas are probably intuitive. But, I am really looking for that next step for my son. You are saved, now what? How do you live? What should our walk look like? My son is coming off a bad ps experience and is not super excited about school in general, so the tone of this book and short chapters has been something that we have effortlessly been able to add to our academic week.