The Seasons Of Fatherhood

Life comes in seasons. In every season, dad matters. Each season of fatherhood has a different role for dads. In The Seasons of Fatherhood, we will explore some key practices to help us succeed in our role for that season. The lessons in this book are what God has been teaching me about fathering four remarkable people.

This highly personal book gives encouragement to dads and sons by reminding them that they need each other. Written by award-winning author Bob Welch, excerpts of this book have appeared in Focus on the Family and Reader's Digest magazines.

The state of society and cultural pressure on the family suggest dads have not been equipped to step up as the fathers the next generation needs. How much instruction and guidance have you received for your role as a father? In Seasons of Fathering - A handbook for life, you will receive instruction on the PASS the BATON strategy for dads along with practical guidance and specific encouragement for the Teacher, Coach and Counselor seasons of fathering. A father's journey is analogous to the 4 X 400 relay race - When a dad runs the relay of life well, he stays between the lines, places the baton firmly in the hand of the next generation and lets go. It is beautiful to watch. When a dad does not commit to run well, the clank of batons reverberate across society. This book is an encouragement to pass the baton well through the seasons of fathering and a charge to become the dad you are called to be, the dad the next generation needs to see.

Reminiscent of Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes and James Dodson's Final Rounds, First and Last Seasons is not only a courageously confessional memoir but a work of resounding originality-a Rust Belt requiem for a father written by the black sheep son he leaves behind. Dan McGraw did not plan to go home to help his father die. To the thirty-nine-year-old Texas-based senior editor for "U.S. News & World Report, Cleveland, Ohio, was a million miles away. Dan was the prodigal middle son within a large Irish-Catholic family, and life never really got going until he was far away from the city and his dominant father, Richard. But the gravitational pull of his hometown grew stronger as each year passed by. The final tug home came when the NFL announced that the Cleveland Browns football franchise would be resurrected for the 1999-2000 season. All McGraws and Clevelanders are die-hard Sunday afternoon football fans, and Dan decided to take a leave of absence and cover the Browns' first season. Soon thereafter, Richard was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dan came home to a press pass and the caretaking chores for a father intent on dying the way he lived, on his own terms. First and Last Seasons is a heart-wrenching work about fathers and sons, the binding influence of community, and how emotionally disconnected men find a common language in sports. It is also a poignantly funny and charming celebration of one man's life and how his sacrifices and mistakes helped his son find the best part of himself. A beautifully written, intensely personal story, this cathartic chronicle of how Dan participated in his father's final season is sure to speak to the millions of fathers and sons who havetrouble finding the voice to express their love for one another.

In a series of personal essays, the organic farmer and author of Epitaph for a Peach prepares to hand his family’s eighty-acre farm to his daughter. How do you become a farmer? The real questions are: What kind of person do you want to be? Are you willing to change? How do you learn? What is your vision for the future? In this poignant collection of essays, David Mas Masumoto prepares for one of life’s greatest transitions. After four decades of working the land, he will pass down his beloved peach farm to his daughter, Nikiko. Echoing Nikiko’s words that “all of the gifts I have received from this life are not only worthy of sharing, but must be shared,” Mas reflects on topics as far ranging as the art of pruning, climate change, and the prejudice his family faced during and after World War II: essays that, whether humorous or heartbreaking, explore what it means to pass something on. Nikiko’s voice is present too, as she relates the myriad lessons she has learned from her father in preparation for running the farm as a queer mixed-race woman. Both farmers feel less than totally set for the future that lies ahead; indeed, Changing Season addresses the uncertain future of small-scale agriculture in California. What is unquestionable, though, is the family’s love for their vocation—and for each other.

Picture respectful, responsible, obedient children who entertain themselves without television or video games, do their own homework, and have impeccable manners. A pie-in-the-sky fantasy? Not so, says family psychologist and bestselling author John Rosemond. Any parent who so desires can grow children who fit that description -- happy, emotionally healthy children who honor their parents and their families with good behavior and do their best in school. In the 1960s, American parents stopped listening to their elders when it came to child rearing and began listening instead to professional experts. Since then, raising children has become fraught with anxiety, stress, and frustration. The solution, says John, lies in raising children according to biblical principles, the same principles that guided parents successfully for hundreds of years. They worked then, and they still work now! Through his nationally syndicated newspaper column and eleven books, John has been helping families raise happy, well-behaved children for more than thirty years. In Parenting by The Book, which John describes as both a "mission and a ministry," he brings parents back to the uncomplicated basics. Herein fi nd practical, Bible-based advice that will help you be the parent you want to be, with children who will be, as the Bible promises, "a delight to your soul" (Pro. 29-17). As a bonus, John also promises to make you laugh along the way.

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Daily readings from Christian spiritual masters -- from Basil the Great to Evelyn Underhill -- for devotional use all year long.