Testing…

Just testing the status post on my blog. Sorry if you receive this via RSS – I don’t believe you should…

Paper Airplanes

There’s something about having 2 young boys that keeps the boy alive in you.

A little while ago I decided it was time that Howard (almost 3 at the time) and I built a paper airplane. I wasn’t happy with the same old paper airplanes that I used to build as a kid, so I did what most of us do now-a-days: Googled “best paper airplane.” You can see the picture above of what came of that – and it was awesome. For instructions on how to build it Continue reading “Paper Airplanes”

Highlights of 2011

Every year, my wife and I have a scheduled date the morning of Christmas Eve. On that date, we look back at the previous year and share our highlights and what we are looking forward to in the coming year.

2011 was a good year to look back on, although not without it’s hardships or challenges. Here are some of our highlights from 2011:

  • Our 2nd son, Stone, was born. There are so many memories and fun things that surround his birth:
    • our awesome Doctor (Adkins) and how he nearly missed the birth of our son
    • our friends Stephanie and Thomas who were visiting when my wife went into labor (kind of)
    • how much our oldest, Howie, loves his little brother
    • the timing of a summer baby
    • and more…
  • We both changed careers after being in full-time ministry for over half a decade. I have gone into marketing & owning my own business, and my wife is now unemployed (joyfully, might we add).
  • First the first time during our marriage, we stayed home for a summer. Full-time ministry brought much travel, and summers were always spent in at least a different State, if not a different Country.
  • I have begun a bible study / counseling group with Aphesis. I feel that this is the start of really understanding more about my relationship with God, leading my family spiritually, and understanding more about who I am.  Continue reading “Highlights of 2011”

Coming in 2012…

This blog has been active (loosely defined, of course) for over 2 years now. 2012 is going to be a building year for this blog, which will hopefully build into a community, and ultimately, a recognizable brand among men.

Here are some things that you might see beginning in January 2012…

  • A new logo. My buddy Bobby is a great model for the current logo, but I’m looking for something that can be transferred to other mediums. More on ‘other mediums’ later.
  • Updated website. The look will change according to the logo. Not quite sure where this is heading yet.
  • The About section. This is not a blog about me, but is going to be more about building a community of men that live with principles, passions, and purpose. I’m going to simply give direction.
I need some help. Here’s what I’ll need from those that are interested…
  • Help with a new logo. I have some specific ideas, but don’t have the ‘chops’ for great design. I’m not going to be satisfied with ‘good.’
  • Invite your friends to my Facebook page. I want the custom url associated with that page, and need 25 fans to do that.
  • Help me acquire the twitter handle @fromboytoman. I’ve emailed and tweeted to twitter, but they have yet to respond. It’s currently owned by someone that has only posted once, and that was in June of 2009. I would love this ‘brand’ to be consistent.
I’m looking forward to how this community might build. Thanks for being a part of it, and helping build this community. I hope you are as passionate about becoming a man that will lead our families, communities, etc. the way we were created to lead.

My About Page – A Little Help?

If you haven’t perused my blog yet (maybe you’re mainly reading this via email or RSS feed), I would appreciate some feedback on my about page.

Maybe you know this about me already, but I sometimes have a hard time putting into words what I really mean or want to say (that’s why it’s so great that I married my wife – she helps me with those things!).

Would you mind checking out my about page quickly and giving me some feedback? Maybe think about these things as you read:

  • What else do you want to know about me?
  • What do you know about me that I didn’t mention?
  • Does this make me want to read this blog every day for the rest of my life? 🙂
Thanks for the help – hopefully you’ll help this small community grow into something that will impact the next generation of men, families, and who knows…maybe our country.

Discovering My Responsibilities

We quickly find that the older we get, the more responsibilities we have. Isn’t that true? More responsibilities come with going to school on your own, dating, moving away from your parents, getting married, buying a home, having kids, and the list goes on…

The hard thing for me is balancing those responsibilities, and correctly prioritizing them. Not only do I desire to do well in balancing the responsibilities in my life, I want to lead well in them.

The first step that we can take in order to balance and lead in our responsibilities is to simply recognize them. Here are some areas that I believe I’m doing fairly well in right now: Continue reading “Discovering My Responsibilities”

Women: How to Get Married.

Wow...I had hair back then!

My wife and I have a few acquaintances that have been dating the same person for a very long time. I’m not saying there is something intrinsically wrong with dating for a long time, BUT, we who are married can all agree that there are advantages to marriage (other than the obvious – should you choose to abstain). Those advantages are for another post…

When people date for a very long time, oftentimes there is one person of the party who isn’t happy with just dating. Let’s pretend that it’s usually the woman. 🙂 They want to get married. They want the commitment. They want to put the dating scene behind them (I can’t blame them, now that I’m on the other side of dating). What’s the solution? Continue reading “Women: How to Get Married.”

How to be a Great Coach

A few of the most memorable moments in my life have come from coaches, both positive and negative. My guess is that whether you have been involved in sports, music, dance, gymnastics, or whatever, you have most likely had both good and bad experiences with a coach.

What makes a great coach? There are many things, but some of the most indelible moments in my life as an athlete and musician have come from a coach that is speaking these things to me:

Continue reading “How to be a Great Coach”

Parenting with your Spouse

I'm crazy about these guys!

I consider raising children a great blessing and privilege that is unique to marriage. No other relationship has the deep responsibility of raising and shaping a child together. It often surprises me to hear when couples have very few conversations, if any, regarding how they are going to parent and raise their children.

A friend of mine (and mentor – she is so wise!), Carolyn, sent me the following message shortly after hearing that my wife and I were pregnant… Continue reading “Parenting with your Spouse”

The Father’s Role After Childbirth

Me and Howie, my firstborn son.

Being a father is scary, rewarding, challenging, and intimidating all at the same time. The birth of my first son, Howard (pictured right at about 7 months old), knocked me out of my socks. I broke down and cried so many times right after he was born. Yes, I’m a crier (sometimes I wish I wasn’t). I was overwhelmed with the reality of helping give life to this beautiful child, with responsibility, and love for this little ball of skin and hair.

All fathers will deal with having children differently, and I’m sure that the first few nights at home are more of a shock for some than others. I’ve heard of fathers that completely separate themselves from children because they are afraid they will harm them (and sometimes this isn’t helped by overly protective or untrusting mothers). There are also fathers that are over-involved and don’t let their wives do what they do best – love and care for their children.

After we had our second son, Stone, we were presented with a handout that our doctor gives to all parents of new children. I laughed at first, but quickly realized that there are probably fathers that need to hear this. I needed to hear it, actually. Here’s what it said… Continue reading “The Father’s Role After Childbirth”