Another month has flown by. Take a moment with me to consider what I’ve engaged with this past month. Maybe you’ll find something you’d enjoy and benefit from as well!
- The Intentional Father – This past Father’s Day, my wife gave me Jon Tyson’s 2021 book, The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raising Sons of Courage and Character. Previously, I’d heard an interview with Tyson on the Gospelbound podcast (a podcast I heartily recommend), and I resonated with his approach to parenting and intentionally engaging our kids. In his book, he walks through his own relationship with his son and what he sought to do both personally and in community with other fathers and sons to raise his son intentionally, particularly between the ages of 13-18. Although I don’t think Tyson’s larger trips with his son to be something I can financially replicate (especially with the four sons I have), I did appreciate his desire to meet with his son regularly and study the Scriptures, read books, watch movies, etc. More than anything, Tyson’s book got the gears of my thinking and planning in motion for what I might want to do with my boys in just a few years’ time.
- Marvel United – If you’re a regular reader of this inconsistently updated blog, you know I’m a big fan of games. I like sports. I like videogames. I like board games. I love temporarily entering the “magic circle” games create and learning, exploring, experimenting, strategizing and overcoming. I’m happy to do that by myself, but it’s always more fun to do it with others. One of the ways I’ve been doing that this past month is playing the board-game, Marvel United, with some of my boys. I picked this up soon after Christmas, and I’m so glad I did. The game is a cooperative card-based game where you assume the identities of various superheroes from the Marvel Universe (i.e. Iron Man, Spiderman, Dr. Strange, The Hulk, etc.) and seek to take down a villain and their henchmen before they can accomplish their master plan. Although the game is not easy (at least for us!), my boys and I have really enjoyed picking the different heroes and attempting to use their various abilities to beat the bad guys. We’ve already lost a handful of times, but in the times we’ve won, it’s been fist-pumping fun!
- Be Thou My Vision – Not only is it the title of a favorite hymn of mine, but “Be Thou My Vision” is also the title of a helpful daily liturgy assembled by Jonathan Gibson and published by Crossway. I picked this book for the new year to provide a bit more structure and depth to my personal times with the Lord. By God’s grace, I was able to use it every day in January and after a month of use, I can easily say this is a thoughtful, well-developed resource. I really appreciated the variety of rich prayers present in the book (i.e. adoration, confession, illumination, etc.), but also the creedal and catechism readings as well. However, I didn’t always feel like I gave enough time to really consider what I was saying in the prayers or reading the catechism / creeds. Also, while there were helpful Scripture readings interwoven throughout, I longed to spend more time reading / meditating on Scripture and less on man-made prayers (as helpful as they are!). In the future, I would like to continue using this resource, but I will probably utilize it at a more measured pace and not worry about finishing the daily liturgy everyday.
Well, that’s all for this month! Take a moment to share what you’ve been engaging with lately!