It’s Better To Build Boys Than Mend Men

I knew Truett Cathy as the founder of one of my favorite restaurants – a chain that can claim the highest quality in terms of business, ethics, food and customer service. I didn’t know that Truett Cathy was so much more than that. Now I do.

Truett Cathy’s book, “It’s Better To Build Boys Than Mend Men”, takes a simple, yet profound look, at the foundations necessary for raising respectable young men (and women) with great integrity and Biblical morals. Cathy begins with taking a look at a fatherless world. He states that “children all around us are growing up without strong positive guidance from their parents, who are busy, distracted, absent, or who choose to be buddies instead of parents to their children.” And, he sets the premise that “God wants to work through you to change the life of a child.”

Through this short book, Cathy writes on six basic ideas to consider in building up a child. These ideas are Respect, Trust and Generosity, Common Sense, Right Crowd versus Wrong Crowd, and Stability. He digs into each idea and discusses biblical and practical wisdom as he shares personal experiences connected to many of the issues we deal with in life. Through all of this, Cathy challenges us to reach out to children sincerely, to encourage them honestly, and to remind them of their strengths and opportunities.

It is sometimes overwhelming to think about, let alone address, all of the things that are essential in raising children to become Godly men and women. The ideas written about in this book remind us of core building blocks that are worth paying attention to.

Our challenge now, as parents and adults, is to share our lives with our children and others without strong parental influences. Our children are important and I believe that God is calling us to intentionally speak into their lives. This book gives us a great starting place with simple, yet important, ideas that we need to share with our children. This is one book that I want to keep with me.