A Ceremony for the Twins

As a part of the kids growing up we've dedicated ourselves, or I guess I should say Justin, to taking the boys through specific ceremonies of boyhood to hold them accountable to growing up, call them to the next age level with purpose and to mark transitions of growing older with a ceremony. Rights of Passage of sorts. Well we started with Cole when he was 4 and he attended the "Raising a Modern Day Knight" weekend camp with Justin. They used a sword to knight him into boyhood, call him to follow the knights code, and we gifted him with a bible and a special pin on the bible cover. Then when he turned six we gave him another pin and a pocket knife as a token of him getting older and a necklace to show his commitment to the Cross.

Well we were so excited to find a real sword at the homeschool conference that we could use with the kids as they grow older and we do their ceremonies.

Since the boys (twins) are now four, we decided it was time to do their ceremony. Justin pulled each of them aside, alone, and spoke with them about the knights code and calling them to a new level of boyhood. Instead of bibles this time, we gave them crosses and I bought a pin for each of them (we decided to wait on the bible till they are a little older, possibly when they accept Jesus into their hearts) and he used the sword to knight them.

It was special and they are super excited about turning six and getting a pocket knife and being ceremoniously inducted into boyhood again at a new level.

It really is a neat thing. We have a calendar that talks about the stages and the ceremonies you do. The items the father should concentrate on as they grow.

There is one for daughters as well, we haven't looked into that one yet. She's still young. But, I really think it is a neat way for dad's to place a calling on the boys as they grown and hold them to a higher level of manhood. The goal is to raise boys who are men when they turn 18 and although they might not marry at that younger age, we want them to be equipped...this is part of the way we hope to achieve that.

We also gave Cole a new necklace b/c he lost his first one, and we gave Brynn a pink one which is totally cute on her. I will most likely save it and give it to her again when she's four since wearing one now is a recipe for it being lost!!