Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single-Income Family

Wow, I feel awful after reading this book, that is awfully convicted of my sin and need to change. This book is very convicting to the soul about how you are raising your sons (and daughters). The book centers around you being the model for your child, and the rest will fall in line. I can't recommend this book more, for yourself or for a group study. Each chapter has questions at the end that will be very good for a study on parenting. I especially like how Steven approaches "work". I am guilty of the "put my 40 hours in, let me have my nights and weekends". This is completely against God's word when you think about it. Six days we should work, then we rest. Overall, outstanding book, and Steven does an excellent job of backing up what he says with scripture.

With a title like that there should be no doubt as to the content of a book. Steven Maxwell and his wife Teri have authored several books that have been a great practical help to Christian families, particularly homeschool families. They have eight children, some of whom have written some fictional accounts of the life of a family called the Moody family. My boys have enjoyed us reading these stories to them, as they are a little snapshot of the life of a homeschool family, complete with the ups and downs that come with the territory. Steve writes this book in order to help parents train their sons to provide for a single-income family. Modern American middle-class economics being what they are, it is almost a presupposition that each household is a dual-income family. Take a look at housing costs for "middle-class" homes and you will see what I am talking about. So, how do parents raise sons to have the skills to be able to be the sole providers of their family? Maxwell shows that living rightly regarding work is a mark of Christian character. He says, "Parents should teach their children that work is a gift from God. Workers with that attitude are a pleasure to work with and will have a positive influence on other employees. Their job will be secure and their wages will increase. What are your children's attitudes regarding work?" Furthermore, we must listen to God's perspective on money... "We are not to worry about how much income our sons can earn for their families. However, as we build the foundation of our sons' futures, we need to "count the cost" and consider that there are many important things we need to teach and train them in. If they are pleasing to the Lord, He will provide them with the income that is right for them." Chapter four answers the question, "What does it take to make ends meet?" by showing the difference between "needs" and "wants". Again, this is an issue of character formation in our sons (and daughters). The three pillars of training sons are: your training, your example, and your prayer. Maxwell shares his consternation with the popular misunderstanding of Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child...", and says: "I'm seeing children who are being raised to be children all of their lives. They are being trained, but not in the way they should go. It appears that either parents do not have Scriptural goals for their children, or they are not raising their children consistent with their goals. The result will be the same. Parents need to ask themselves what their goals are for their children. They then should examine those goals to see if they are consistent with Scripture. In another twenty years, the entertainment-focused Christian youth of today will be entertainment-focused adults who act much like they did in their teen years." and also... "If the years of one's youth mean one fun activity or sport after another, when do children learn to enjoy work? Must our children always have great fun while being educate

This is a great book on raising our sons to provide for one income families. It is unique as far as I know - and it covers a topic that needed to be addressed. It is written from a strong Christian standpoint. [A non-Christian could still gain much valuable insight, but needs to be aware of where the author is coming from]. The book is full of excellent ideas and instructions on raising up our boys to be fiscally responsible adults [and fathers]. The author covers the topic very thoroughly. He discusses what makes a good wage earner, where some men go wrong, what character traits are essential to a good provider, and how parents can cultivate these things in their boys. He gives stage by stage instructions for each part of a boy's life, beginning from the preschool stage on up. This book would be perfect for the parents of young boys - to teach them everything they need to know at each point in their son's development; but even the parents of teens could really gain a lot from reading what Mr. Maxwell has to say. The book is based on Mr. Maxwell's experience in raising his own sons [very successfully] to be good providers, and his advice is extremely valuable. His arguments are logical and surprising in that most of us have never given enough thought to this issue. We SHOULD be giving thought to this issue though, and I am so glad we have Mr. Maxwell's book to lead us. Our sons will benefit greatly, and thus so will our grandchildren. I highly recommend this book for every Christian parent of boys - and the book's basic principles can be applied to daughters as well - we want them to be industrious, diligent, and hard working in their own domains.

this book is terrific! it's a how to manuel , so to speak,on how to rear sons to be true leaders of the home and to be the sole breadwinner. discusses aspects i never thought of as obstacles in this training.much needed in today's society where money is the end all of everything.