“We need to have a vision of the day our sons will leave our homes and work backward from that day with a plan to help them gain the knowledge, skills, character, and experiences they need. This will enable them to move into the world as confident and healthy men. That’s when the questions will start pouring into your mind. What have I given him? What wisdom, what love, what lessons is he carrying into the world? What brokenness is he bearing? What is my legacy to him?”

“Formation happens day by day; distortion happens day by day. We are either helping our sons move into adulthood or joining the culture’s attempt to trap them in an extended adolescence.”

“May it never be said that your son thinks there is more wisdom about life from Google and YouTube than from you.”

“Somebody is going to disciple your son. Somebody is going to give your son wisdom on how to live, and it’s either going to be you and a community of godly men or it’s going to be the world. Your son is going to become someone—he is going to grow up. His character will be formed by someone.”

Hence forth, may their richest experiences be ones we curated and planned for them intentionally, not just random, traumatic events that lead to brokenness.

Listen in as we sit down with Jon Tyson, author of book “The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character”, and get in the nitty gritty of raising our sons with intentionality rather than shooting from the hip.

Self-initiation is killing our young men. Without strong mentors, boys are walking alone into a wilderness of conflicting messages about who they should be as men. It’s no wonder that our sons are confused about what the world expects from them and what they should expect of themselves.

The Intentional Father is the antidote. This concise book is filled with practical steps to help men raise sons of consequence–young men who know what they believe, know who they are, and will stand up against the negative cultural trends of our day. Jon Tyson lays out a clear path for fathers and sons that includes specific activities, rites of passage, and significant “marking moments” that can be customized to fit any family.

It’s not enough to hope our sons will become good men. We need them to be good at being men. This book shows how fathers, grandfathers, and other male mentors can lead the way.

You can buy the book from the machine that is Amazon here, or you can support the saints who run Hearts & Minds Bookstore by emailing them here.