Comments on: Brothers to the Rescue

By: Kirsten Erin

Kirsten Erin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:28:46 +0000

I just thought I’d let you know that I put a link to this post on my ‘Blogoversary Afterparty!’ post on Living Water!

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:18:47 +0000

Oh my, that is so precious! What a little gentleman he is =)

By: Christa Taylor

Christa Taylor — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:50:32 +0000

::chuckle:: I wait by the door too- even If I have to wait 30 seconds, it’s worth it! It’s always a work in progress- they definitely need lots of encouragement, and affirmation. Keep up the good work Alison!

By: Gabby E

Gabby E — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:15:29 +0000

Hello,

I recently added you on facebook, and I love reading both your blogs!

That is such a sweet story. My little brother is 10 too, and he (mostly) opens the doors for us. my mother and I are always teaching him to be a little gentleman.

Luv,
Gabby

By: Alison Joy

Alison Joy — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:40:21 +0000

Thankfully, my dad and church are supportive of chivalry and my brother has been trained to the basics such as door opening. People laugh at us sometimes when my sisters and I will wait at the door until he comes up, or point it out when a lady needs help carrying something, but I know that he actually likes it. So, he isn’t completely unchivalrous; the issue is really more in the direction of leadership.

I feel like I need to tell him to do certain things or they won’t get done, but on the other hand, I wish he would take the lead and do what he needs to do. That might not really make sense…. Anyways, we are working on it.

By: Christa Taylor

Christa Taylor — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:58:49 +0000

Anna, there is famous phrase Ronald Reagan used to quote- “He who reads, leads”.

Reading is indeed a very powerful tool. I am constantly immersing myself in good books- simply because we are bombarded by the deceptive lies of our society all the time- and I’m a sucker- I fall for them. Hence, why I continually have to renew my thinking with good, truthful reading.

If you need any book recommendations, let me know. There are some gems out there!

By: Christa Taylor

Christa Taylor — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:56:59 +0000

Dear Alison,
I too have a brother that is 14, and initially it was a challenge to break the habits I had formed. But even your desire to encourage his leadership shows you are headed in the right direction. When my brothers were younger (Sam was then 14, Dan 12 and Brandon we had a ongoing competition with prizes/rankings/scorepads called “The Gentleman Contest”. Essentially, once a week I gathered them together for a brief training on how to be a gentleman, read stories of past heroes (See: “Women and Children First” ) and generally fostered that attitude. They did need some training, but soon- with a little patience and encouragement- they took off and handled everything themselves. Now, they race to see who can get our doors first.
Because Chivalry is all-but-dead in our society, you do have to gently train and steer them in the right direction.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:58:34 +0000

Aww
What a great brother!

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:05:13 +0000

Cute story!

The excerpt about Sarah Edwards makes me want to be like her

I wish I had access to the books you reference, Christa. I think it would be great to be able to read them in full since you give us a little nugget to taste.

By: arielle

arielle — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 07:48:45 +0000

That is so sweet! I loved the excerpts…