The Kids of Integrity Challenge is finished!

Raising our boys to be men

Greetings from our house to yours! My name is Jim Bugg, and my wife's name is Anita. We're very excited to keep you updated with our Kids of Integrity adventures. Having two boys, ages 10 and five, this resource is exactly what we've been looking for as a tool to help us raise godly, confident and balanced young men.

Anita and I met through some mutual friends in 1989, and I subsequently took her to her high-school graduation. After graduation, our lives were separated for a number of years until we met again. She was always the love of my life, and I kept a picture of us from her graduation in my Bible all those years apart. This August, we will have been married for 13 years, and we have been blessed with two wonderful boys.

Our oldest son, Riley, has an introspective personality, and Markus, our fireball, is always on the go. Although Riley is more of a quiet thinker, he also has a wonderful sense of humour. One night, Anita and I were at home and noticed it was really quiet – too quiet. Sure enough, Riley soon emerged from his room and could barely move as he was wearing all of the clothes in his closet. (He had seen this in a comic book and thought he would try it out.) Riley is also a very caring and empathetic person. One time, after he had done something he thought he might get in trouble for, he walked around the house with a sign saying, “Love the sinner – hate the sin.”

Markus, although only five, is very passionate about whatever he is doing. There is rarely a time when we need to worry about how he is thinking or feeling, as he will always tell us. Lately, he has been trying to prove to us how big his muscles are getting. He will lift anything within his vicinity above his head and will push the couch across the floor. The other day, I went into Markus's room and there he was, hanging off his loft bed, wearing only his Spider-Man underpants – doing chin-ups. There is never a dull moment in our house.

So why are we taking the Kids of Integrity Challenge? Anita and I often talk about how important it is to raise our boys to be men. They already know how to be children, but with the tools from Kids of Integrity, we can provide them with a solid foundation for a good head-start into adulthood. Being Christians, we want to set our standards higher than the populist methods of current society, and with the fun lessons and activities provided in Kids of Integrity, we'll be able to instill in our children the character traits God intends for us to live by. I also appreciate the fact that this resource is free and can be downloaded and printed at our leisure.

We look forward to having you follow along with our experiences. We not only expect changes in the lives of our boys, but also anticipate unexpected rewards for our entire family as we live intentionally for Christ.

Tags:

• Respect