Leadership  in  the  home     Take  the  initiative.       Family  devotions.  Read  a  short  passage  of  the  Bible  and  pray  after  meals.   Just  do  it.     Love  and  serve  our  wives.  Date  nights.  Plan  the  week  together.     Just  say  no.  Limit  your  kids  extra-­‐curricular  activities.  It  isn’t  good  for  them  to  be   to  be  running  round  constantly  from  tennis  to  dancing  to  judo  to  violin…   They  can’t  do  everything.   They  need  down  time.   At  St.  Peters  School,  where  my  kids  went,  they  paid  a  lot  of  money  for  a  high   powered  child  psychologist  to  come  and  lecture  parents.  What  did  she  say?   Make  sure  your  kids  get  get  enough  sleep,  eat  well,  limit  their  computer  time,   exercise,  and  get  down  time.   Furthermore,  all  these  activities  inevitably  encroach  on  youth  group  and  church.   It  also  isn’t  good  for  our  wives  to  be  exhausting  themselves  as  the  family  taxi   driver.   So  as  men,  we  need  to  lead  our  families  by  sometimes  just  saying  no.     Show  leadership  by  installing  internet  filters  on  your  home  computers.   K-­‐9  is  free.     Breakfast  and  books.   It  is  important  and  significant  to  schedule  time  alone  with  our  children.   Once  a  week  I  aim  to  have  breakfast  out  one-­‐to-­‐one  with  each  of  my  kids.  I  have   probably  been  doing  this  for  about  5  years.  It  is  never  too  soon  to  start.   They  pick  the  location.  Favourites  are  McDonalds,  Hungry  Jacks,  and  King  of   Cakes.  Going  out  makes  it  more  special  and  frees  us  from  distractions  and   interuptions  that  occur  at  home.     To  give  this  time  a  bit  more  structure  we  read  through  books  together.  Each   week  we  read  the  same  chapter  of  a  book  and  then  discuss  it.     This  helps  focus  the  discussion  and  gives  us  both  good  input.  They  also  get  my   perspective  on  things.     Books  we  have  read  include     Guidance  and  the  voice  of  God  by  Philip  Jensen  and  Tony  Payne   Don’t  check  your  brains  at  the  door  by  Josh  McDowell   Theology:  The  basics  by  Alister  McGrath   Mere  Christianity  by  C.S.  Lewis   A  Purpose  Driven  Life  by  Rick  Warren   Shape  by  Erik  Rees   Loving  God  by  Charles  Colson   5  Minds  for  the  Future  by  Howard  Gardiner   Radical:  Taking  back  your  faith  from  the  American  Dream  by  David  Platt    

  Different  for  different  kids.  How  much  we  talk  and  at  what  level  varies.     Need  to  be  flexible  as  schedules  change.   Details  aren’t  important.     The  main  point  is  that  you  do  something!   It  doesn’t  have  to  be  perfect.   Doesn’t  matter  if  it  is  breakfast.  Lunch,  or  dinner.   Maybe  it  could  be  playing  golf  together.