Kris Langham Answers a Single Mom’s Question about The Manhood Talks & More!
Kris here with a quick update. It’s June, so big congrats to our grads all over the world. Our son graduated university, and our daughter delivered her high school commencement address.
And happy Father’s Day, which I know is a tough day for many of us, but we have a Good Father in heaven who loves us well.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
1 John 3:1 [Listen to 1 John 3 audio guide]
“(He) disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son (or daughter). Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children” (Hebrews 12:6-7a).
Hebrews 12:6-7a [Listen to Hebrews 12 audio guide]
And speaking of dads and grads, our big new reading plan—The Manhood Talks is perfect for all the mentors and father figures out there teaching boys to be men. And guess what! This week The Manhood Talks is a top featured plan on YouVersion. That’s kind of like topping the Billboard charts for Bible plans! Amazing!
And here’s a question and answer with a mom who asked us if she should walk through The Manhood Talks with her son since dad’s out of the picture.
Question from Listener:
Is it appropriate for a mom to do the manhood talks with her son if there isn’t a father to do them? I’m trying to learn how to help grow my son into the man of God created him to be but I’m having to do it myself.
Reply from Kris:
Kris Langham here from TTW. I love your question! My answer to you is an emphatic yes! It is definitely appropriate for you as a mom to guide your son through The Manhood Talks. I should have been clearer about that in the promos. One story that will encourage you greatly is from one of the guests on the series, TeDese Ross. He shares his story of growing up without father figures. He says that the strongest men in his life were his mom and grandmother, and they taught him godly manhood—because there was no one else there to do it.
Later in his teenage years, a friend’s father stepped in and gave him an example of godly manhood. Yet he will still say that his mom was his primary role model for manhood. Yet he is also determined to break the cycle of fatherlessness, and he teaches his boys and the many fatherless boys in his classes how to become men of character. You can hear his story on the series, and a fuller version on the links to stories on the manhoodtalks.com website.
So my encouragement to you is go for it. If you can find good mentors for your son who can guide him, that’s awesome too. But if you are the one there, and God calls you to it, then go for it. I would also encourage you to talk openly and honestly with your son about it. It’s his journey. Ask him how he feels about it. Let him know your heart and intentions, and listen openly to his thoughts and concerns.
I will point out that this first series doesn’t really dive into more masculine issues yet, nor does it address sex and sexuality yet. Your son might feel less comfortable talking to his mom about those. We start off talking about identity and character as a foundation, and the other stuff will build out of that. Hope that’s helpful to you.
I’ll pray for you and for the journey, and also pray for God to bring male role models into your son’s life. One other thought: You might want to find a local youth leader, coach, or teacher to see if they’d be interested in leading a group. Or if your son has a friend with an involved dad, they might be interested in leading a group. But on the other hand, you could go through it with your son once if he feels comfortable that way, then you could suggest it to a leader for second run, and that could give your son some confidence as someone who’s already gone through it. Just ideas to consider. I pray that the Lord will guide you!
