Boyhood…

Oh long ago. Regardless of where we are today or how old we are, how  good things are, or how fragile they might be in this moment, we all had a boyhood.  When life was all revolving around us. Our environment really defined the world we lived.

How would you classify your boyhood years?

Approved, adored, valued

This weeks reading had a lot to do with how the boy was treated and interacted with during the boyhood stage of their own life. The whole challenging concepts of whether our parents, specifically our father, cared about our existence.   Was it good to be seen by your parents? When you were in your boyhood character, did your parents enter in? Or were they merely spectators, or was that even a reality?

What illustrates your boyhood engagement with your father? What made you feel valuable?

Role models and influencers

As we reflect back on life we can begin to see fractures on our life and we can see the strong rebar in other areas that helped us make it to this point.  It may have been your father, but it might have been one of his buddies or another family member or neighbor ro friends father. Maybe it was our television characters.

Who were the ones that influenced you, gave you hope, gave you ambition to be someone you weren’t?

Boyhood transition

We know that we go through the six stages of masculinity over and over again spiritually and emotionally, but that initial physical boyhood stage is monumental, irreplaceable.  We will conclude this week with one of John’s bold questions:

When did your boyhood end and your world cease to be safe? What ended your boyhood?

This week.. on to the “Cowboy” stage

What

Assignments

• Read “Cowboy” (Fathered by God, chapter 4)
• Work through the study guide on Cowboy (pages 54 – 66)