Review - The 21-Day Dad's Challenge

The 21-Day Dad’s Challenge

Three Weeks to a Better Relationship with your Kids

I really like the concept of this book.  Famous fathers like Tony Dungy and Randy Alcorn among many others offer their advice as to what it takes to really connect with your children and have a better relationship.

Each of the 21 days includes a story by one of many men, a challenge to you as a father, and a plan for you to execute your plan.  Each day also includes scripture and detail about who the author is.

I believe men would really find this book appealing if they do in fact want to develop a better relationship with their progeny.  Men like plans – this book offers plans.  Men like small chunks of advice and ways to relate that information to the “real world”.  Well, at least all the men I know do. 

The stories are all heart-felt and realistic.  Written from the man's perspective, they apply to different times in a father’s life.  There are places where our children have grown beyond the helpfulness of the advice in the context it is given.  However, one can always look back and see what he did during that stage of his children’s lives and what, if anything, he might have tried to do differently.

I think it would be interesting to have men write their own final day.  What I’ve learned, what advice I’d give that hasn’t been given, and what takeaways were the most valuable.

We all embrace the opportunity to be better parents, but, sometimes, life gets busy and it’s hard to rise to the challenge without a guide-book of sorts leading the way.  Any man willing to invest three weeks in his relationship with his children will appreciate this book.

***  I received this book free of charge from Tyndale in exchange for my honest review.

iShine Tween Boy's Bible Review

iShine NLT Bible
(Tween Boy Edition)

I was pleasantly surprised when the iShine Bible (boy’s edition) arrived. What a cool looking Bible! This is especially important because this Bible is made with tweens in mind. My youngest son, age 11, was excited as well. The cover feels like leather, is dark blue and has a “cool” young man on the front with a guitar in his hands. The cover just screams pre-teen to me.

Measuring at approximately 4.5 X 6.5 X 1, this Bible fits comfortably in the hand, can be carried around easily, and could be slipped into a backpack taking up little room, but providing plenty of comfort.

The Bible edition is New Living Translation (NLT) making it easily understood by the tween reader. Of course, the majority of the content is exactly what one would expect. After all, it’s a Bible! The print is quite small – I wouldn’t choose to read this copy with my old lady eyes, but my young man has no problems reading the smaller print.

In addition to the Old and New Testament, there are three sections: 1. You have Value, 2. You have a unique Identity in Christ, and 3. You have a Purpose to fulfill. Each section helps the tween understand that to God he is a VIP. The sections are incorporated with thicker paper and standout design/text making them easy to access. They include encouragement written at a tween’s level along with scripture to follow up what is being said. The most important aspect of these sections is they show how relevant the Bible is to each and every person yesterday, today and in the future. Sometimes relevance is where people get stuck – helping youth understand that this isn’t archaic jargon, but a guidebook for living is important.

Additional links are provided so that the tween who wants to explore more can get online and visit the iShine web site.

While my son already has a Bible, this one looks and feels like his own. It’s not mom’s or dad’s Bible – it was made for him. We’ll use this Bible in our homeschool studies as he learns that he was made by God as a special VIP for His kingdom.

*** I was given a copy of this Bible free by Tyndale for my honest review.