My goal in raising Benedict is that he grow into a wholesome, mature man worthy of a great woman. The path to this ideal is filled with challenges, especially as he will face pressure from his peers and the temptations to make poor choices. I want him to preserve his honor, and the honor of those whom he associates with, so that he can present himself as a worthy gift to his wife should he be called to the married life.

There are so many messages being thrown at all of us today, that even I sometimes can find it difficult to wade through them to find the truth and I'm an adult. I know that Benedict and his peers will increasingly face more and more messages that are just wrong. As a sad result, kids will make bad choices based on those wrong messages and the consequences will be lasting.

In order to raise a wholesome child, parents have to do the difficult things. We have to put reasonable restrictions on them and help them to understand why those restrictions are there in the first place. We have to be parents, not friends with our kids. Even more importantly, we have to have difficult discussions on topics such as sexuality and drug use with our children before they get bad information from others. That may be uncomfortable, and it’ll have to happen sooner than we’d like, but it’s a fact of life.

The goal is for us to help our children mature into functioning, healthy adults who aren’t saddled with the regret and consequences of youthful indiscretions. It’s a true challenge, but a worthy pursuit nonetheless.

Raising wholesome kids has never been easy, the nature of the threats are simply changing and becoming more aggressive. Our job is to help Benedict grow into a well-adjusted, mature adult capable of making reasoned and logical choices. I'm also praying for the parents of Benedict's future spouse, that they will be as successful as we are.

Tags: Parenting