Practical parenting principle: integrate discipleship into activities you are already doing rather than adding new programs

Rather than creating an entirely new 8-point discipleship plan, McDowell encourages parents to look at what they already do and find ways to include a young person. Examples: exercise together, drive to the store with your kid, fix things together. The goal is to maximize already-existing time for relationship and conversation. He also cites studies showing that kids who have regular meals with their family are far more likely to be psychologically healthy, less involved in risky behavior, and more likely to adopt parents' values. He uses mealtimes to ask questions about current events in culture — e.g., the Jussie Smollett controversy as a conversation starter about cultural truth-telling.