
El panorama protestante hispano en los Estados Unidos está lleno de iglesias vibrantes y en crecimiento
B&H Staff | Jan 30th
I grew up without a dad in the home and wanted to make sure I passed on a few specific things to my son, Kile.
When Kile entered high school, I decided to make an intentional, long-term investment into our relationship. Frankly, it’s something I regret not doing with more intent with our two older daughters, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake a third time around. So, in the fall of his sophomore year, Kile and I began going to a new bagel shop to discuss life over breakfast. Over the next three years, we talked about each of the “deposits” you’ll find in the book.
I had purchased three high-quality, leather-bound journals, one for each of our children, in Venice when my wife, Karen, and I traveled there for our twentieth anniversary.
Since Kile was about to begin high school, I decided I would fill his journal with fatherly advice and give it to him a few years later as a graduation present. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized there was an opportunity for something more—a chance for me to give Kile something I’d never gotten from my father. I would not just give him practical wisdom, but structured time together during a season of life we would never be able to relive.
The idea behind the journal morphed into the regular discussions between Kile and me at the bagel shop. We didn’t meet on a formal schedule, but as our calendars allowed. I drove the agenda and the timing, ensuring that we met at least a couple of times each month and that the discussions had purpose. But we were light on structure and formalities.
With Kile, my goal was pretty simple: To make wisdom deposits into his mind and relational deposits into his heart. I wasn’t trying to get an immediate transformation, nor was I trying to check some box to make me feel better about myself. There was no test he had to pass, and I didn’t expect him to agree with me or automatically adopt my way of thinking. Instead, I expected him to listen and share his thoughts and feelings enough that I could see in his eyes or hear in his words something that served as a receipt acknowledging the deposit had been made.
The importance of these discussions, by the way, also was personal to me, because I didn’t get these types of deposits, wisdom or relational, from my father.
Other dads of sons, especially, although any parent of any teenager, would find it useful. This book is really for any parent who wants to spend intentional time with their children. It will give readers a framework for discussing with their teens things that matter most to both of them.
Each chapter includes a story that drives home a succinct and specific point, followed by a few key insights to consider and questions to ask and answer. They are arranged into six categories—My Core, My Faith, My Heart, My Relationships, My Work and My Future. Readers can go through the chapters sequentially or randomly (as Kile and I did).
I started with a goal for 50. I simply sat down and tagged every possible topic I could think was critical. Then I combined a few, leaving spots open along the way for new discovery. The complete list of 50 evolved for sure and eventually became 41 because we just simply ran out of time.
The main thing that grew was the depth and breadth and quality of our relationship and friendship. We have an uncanny tight connection today because of that time together. He and I are wired completely differently (like my wife and I). However, the time we spent knit our hearts together more tightly.
Kile is a young adult now, and I often see evidence that he’s drawing on the deposits from those breakfasts together. In many cases, I simply planted a seed that was watered and fed by other relationships and experiences. So, I can truthfully say the deposits are paying dividends in Kile’s life. I can thankfully report that they have strengthened the integrity of our relationship, and I am a better and more joyful man because of our experience.
I see several reasons why fathers and sons have a hard time connecting. The father is too focused on performance and outcomes with his son, not the quality of the relationship. They have already screwed up their relationship and the father is trying to do a correction after the fact, which is so much harder.
They could be wired completely differently, which makes any relationship depth-building a challenge and more work. Sometimes, the son really doesn’t admire his father, so there are no natural tie-ins for relationship building, or the father doesn’t know how to shift in the way he relates to his son at the different ages and stages (relating to a 7-year-old versus a 13-year-old and so on).
It can build confidence in the dad because intentional investing into his son is a smart move. When dads invest in their sons intentionally, they are doing more than just hoping the kid picks up some stuff while he lives in the home.
The book is designed to be a track to run on if you don’t already have one or don’t already have some stuff worked out to share. Dads can use the topics and stories as launching pads for meaningful discussion with their sons. It can help the dad take the first step if that is what he struggles with or stay on the process for two to three years if he is more of a starter and not a finisher.
El panorama protestante hispano en los Estados Unidos está lleno de iglesias vibrantes y en crecimiento
B&H Staff | Jan 30th
Lifeway y B&H Español presentan “Cornelius” en la Feria Internacional de libro
B&H Staff | Dec 14th
B&H Español publica “Los primeros cristianos” del reconocido autor César Vidal
B&H Staff | Nov 6th
Fostered Giveaway
Erica Travis | Oct 13th
Lifeway / B&H Español recibe múltiples premios y reconocimientos
B&H Staff | May 24th
Reconsidera tu identidad
B&H Staff | Feb 21st