Raising Kids Part 1: Beyond the Church

Over the past few years a few conversations with people I encounter regularly have impacted me in what I would consider important ways in the way I parent and how I help others raise their kids. All of these have occurred outside the church walls, church programs and church relationships.

As someone who has spent their entire life trying to organize peoples lives around the activities of the church through small groups, youth programs, volunteering etc, I'm finding myself open to a new sphere of relationships that are way more fuzzy, predefined, predetermined or organized. I'm not saying that there isn't value in church activities, but I'm finding my family connecting with people who may or may not hold similar values to me, but we are still partnering in raising our kids together.

Last week I received Joe Myers new book in the mail from the book folks at Baker. I'll be reviewing it soon after I read it (which will be in the next week or so) and I guessing what I'm talking about is the kind of thing Joe writes about.

As a parent, I'm intrigued by the number of relationships my kids bring me into via their activities. Actually not through all of them, mostly through cub scouting.

More to come on this...