Father & Son Bonding - Making it Happen By Mike Moynihan In our world today it has become increasingly difficult to engage our kids. They are constantly bombarded with activities (school, sports, TV, video games, etc). Then you add a father’s natural desire to work hard to pay for all of these activities and this creates a recipe for disconnection. We equate being busy with success. Being “too busy” to spend intentional, quality time with our children could have disastrous consequences.
It takes a conscious, intentional decision to plan activities that will build bonds between you and your son and allow for opportunities for you to teach him life’s valuable lessons.
I have taken two steps in my own life to make sure that I do not wake up 20 years from now regretting the missed opportunity of my son’s youth. The first is leading a group of fathers and sons of a short-term mission trip. I am so excited to share time with my son and share I know that growing up I admired (and feared) with him God’s love for us and all people. Taking us both out of our comfort zone no one more than my dad. He was a great inspiration to me. He worked really hard and was should be a great way for us to grow together gone a lot, but I fondly remember the times he and mutually trust in God’s provision. intentionally went out of his way to spend time with me. The second step, I have taken is gathering an even bigger group of men with sons and going through a series of lessons together. The first Notice that I have series is “Raising a Modern Day Knight” by Robused the same ert Lewis. Using this as a roadmap for intenword twice now…intentional. tional fatherhood and having a group of dads that I respect and admire to help keep me acThat is the key to countable to being an intentional father. As a it. When thinking group we have outings and ceremonies to recabout spending time with our sons, ognize the critical moments in a young boy’s it is very easy to let life as he grows up to be a man. life get away from us and say “Wow, We will never get it perfectly right, but I do that is a really great know that by asking for God’s help and making idea. We need to some intentional decisions, we will get a lot furdo that ther in becoming the dad we really want to be. someday.” Howev er, more often than not, that someday never comes. The desire is there and you really do want to spend time with your son. After all, you love him and want the best for him, right?