I'm off to a decent start on

one of my biggest New Year's resolutions, which is to do a great deal

more reading in 2003. The goal is to plow through 25 books by the end

of the year, and I'm in the middle of the second one already.

There's no ironclad list; I'm

waiting to see how the best-seller lists develop in the coming months

and make my own selections as I go. There will be a mix of topics and

probably about one in three will be fiction.

The first two selections of

the year deal largely with the three most important roles in my life:

Christian, husband and father. I received as a Christmas present a copy

of "Finishing Strong" by Steve Farrar, a nationally known speaker

and writer who does a lot of work with men's issues in Christian circles.

The title refers to the ever-important task of staying consistent throughout

life with regard to family responsibilities and honoring God.

Farrar begins with a fascinating

story of three evangelists taking the United States by storm in 1945.

All were widely praised and poised for decades of influence through their

ministries. One of them was Billy Graham, who obviously lived up to the

hype. The other two were out of the ministry within five years and one

was dead in 10.

From this introduction, Farrar

discusses the snares that entangle men in all walks of life and cause

them to forsake their obligations to their wives and children and tarnish

their reputations and leadership abilities. Among the major problems cited

are the temptations that lead husbands into infidelity and wreck marriages,

as well as the pressures to succeed in the workplace that often cause

men to ignore family concerns until it is too late. Farrar also shows

how men can stay the course and look back on a lifetime of positive influence

on their families and everyone else they come in contact with.

My latest reading assignment

is actually one my wife picked up for herself the other day. It's called

"Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson, perhaps the foremost

authority in the country on families. A couple of years ago we acquired

another of his works, "The Strong-Willed Child." See a pattern

here? Like many of you reading this column have done before me, I am experiencing

firsthand the wonder of how a 4-year-old boy can be positively adorable

and absolutely frustrating at the same time.

Dobson spends some time in

the initial chapters talking about how surprise! boys and girls are actually

different. Reminding us that civilization has known this for thousands

of years, he documents scientific evidence that is now available to back

it up. Refuting the morons out there who would make men more like women

and women more like men, which only confuses children, he emphasizes the

importance of recognizing the differences between the genders and appreciating

their uniqueness.

Another subtopic that cannot,

in my opinion, be overemphasized is the breakdown of the traditional American

family and how modern culture has waged war against the values that have

produced successful families for centuries. While acknowledging that different

family models exist today often out of necessary, Dobson shows that mothers

and fathers have distinct and vitally important roles in the lives of

boys and girls alike, and their influence, for good and bad, cannot be

emphasized enough.

The first days of any new year

are an ideal time to review one's goals in life, especially relating to

family. How is my marriage? What are the needs of my spouse and children

physically, emotionally and spiritually and how can I better provide them?

Am I spending enough time with my family? These are questions that should

be asked often, from the time a couple walks down the aisle until that

same couple's children walk down the aisle, and beyond.

Regardless of a person's position

in the workplace, if that person has children, molding them into the right

kind of adults is the most important job he or she will ever have. To

that end, keeping our priorities in order is an absolute necessity. No

one, on his or her deathbed, ever said, "I wish I had spent more

time at the office."

I recommend any of James Dobson's

books for anyone who is married and has children. "Finishing Strong"

is a good book for any adult male.

I hope your reading this year

is as enjoyable and enlightening as mine.

[Monroe Roark's Web address

is www.mroark.com.]