It’s National Sons Day. Just a square on the calendar. But if you’ve ever stood beside a crackling fire with your boy on the other side of the flames — his face half lit, half shadow — you know there’s something deeper burning there.
Altadena, California — January 2025 The house was filled with noise. Phones screamed with emergency alerts. Wind battered the walls. Somewhere beyond the windows, flames were racing downhill toward Altadena. Inside, the Maljanian family moved in every direction at once.
Richard Braly is a new Trail Life Registered Adult volunteer and the father of a six-year-old Trailman. Like many Trail Life leaders, Richard was a Boy Scout, froma Tiger Cub all the way into adulthood. As a teenager, he worked as a counselor at multiple BSA summer camps in Texas and Oklahoma.…
“My sentiments for the American cause, from the Stamp Act downward, have never changed… I am still of opinion that it is the cause of liberty and of human nature.” — Christopher Gadsden
Every parent knows the feeling—explaining, demonstrating, encouraging—and yet the lesson doesn’t quite stick. Whether it’s tying shoes, changing a tire, or learning to listen, boys often need more than words. That’s because boys don’t just learn with their ears—they learn with their hands.
This op-ed was published by Townhall.com on January 11, 2026. America turns 250 this year. Across the country, plans are already taking shape—parades, speeches, fireworks, commemorations of a story two and a half centuries in the making. Flags will wave. Bells will ring. We will honor the courage…
Christmas confronts us with a startling truth: when God chose to reveal Himself fully to the world, He did so by becoming a man. Not a distant king. Not a disembodied idea. A boy—born into obscurity, raised in a family, practicing obedience, growing in wisdom, and stepping into responsibility one…
A Backseat Confession The car was quiet on the long drive home from a Trail Life meeting when Jason’s 12 year old son suddenly spoke from the back seat: “Dad, I want to be a Christian.”
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