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Things I Want to Say: Letters to a Son Before You Launch
Paperback
Christian LivingGeneral Parenting
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: May 12 2026
Pages: 220
Weight: 0.57
Height: 0.50 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
When pastor and church planter Dr. Ryan J. Pelton realized his firstborn son was about to graduate high school, he did what he'd been meaning to do for eighteen years: he sat down and wrote it all out.
The result is Things I Want to Say-forty short, honest, and deeply personal reflections on faith, doubt, love, sex, money, failure, friendship, marriage, race, creativity, suffering, and the slow art of becoming a man of character. Written from a kitchen table, not a pulpit, this book is what happens when a father stops waiting for the right moment and puts the truest things he knows on paper before his son walks out the door.
Organized around the three great virtues-faith, hope, and love-and woven through with the fruit of the Spirit, each chapter opens with a personal story, explores a timeless truth, and closes with a scripture and a blessing. Drawing on the wisdom of N.T. Wright, Dallas Willard, Tim Keller, Thomas Merton, C.S. Lewis, and two decades of pastoral ministry, Ryan writes with the warmth of a dad, the honesty of a man who's made plenty of mistakes, and the conviction that character is built, not born.
Short enough to read in ten minutes. Honest enough to stay with you for years.
Perfect for:
Graduation gifts for sons
Fathers looking for wisdom to share with their sons
Young adults entering college, career, and adulthood
Anyone who loves Tuesdays with Morrie, The Last Lecture, or Letters to My Son
Small groups and men's ministry discussion
The life you actually want is on the other side of the thing that scares you. Go get it.
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