A Moment with M.O.M.- Fun Friday Freebie! Raising Real Men

Good Morning Friends!!

Today, I’m running a tad behind in posting our Fun Friday Freebie! I had a restful and enjoyable evening with my parents and saw them off this morning. My heart rejoices at the fellowship that we have together. We love every moment with them when they are here, miss them when their gone and eagerly await their next visit. With Momma battling cancer this last year and daddy’s Parkinson's each day, each moment, has become a vivid reminder of how precious our time is together!

So, how have you enjoyed the Fun Friday Freebies? I know we’ve had a great deal of fun hosting these. The children love to pull the names from the hat and often ask, “Momma who’s this person?” It’s been fun when I was able to share with them a bit more about you. Thank you for sharing your lives with me, allowing me to pray for you and listening as I share my heart and home with you! I also want to thank each sponsor that hosted the “Fun Friday Freebies”. Thank you for giving of your time and resources for others! Well, with no more delay let me share with our this week’s treat!

Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young is a wonderful read for parents of boys!

I am often asked, “What’s harder girls or boys?” My answer is: “Both in their unique ways.” Most often, not always, but often this is what I find to be the case: With my girls I deal with the ‘attitude’. The look of the eyes, the tone of voice, the attitude in which they carry themselves or respond to others. I will often correct them only to have them respond sweetly saying, “What look momma?” Instantly I begin to question my ability to discern and correct them. I start to question myself and make sure that I’m not over reacting, hormonal, or simply making wrong assumptions. Parenting truly keeps me a woman of prayer!!! With my boys it is the ‘action’ instead of the attitude. They are throwing footballs in the house, pulling the cat by the tail when they can’t catch it, running, jumping and climbing on things that weren’t meant for such adventures. If I say, “Son, why did you pull the cat’s tail?” and they reply with the same sweet voice asking, “what cat momma?” it is easy for me to say the one that you have in your hand! There isn’t near as much doubt because it’s clear! However, it takes much more understanding on my part to discern if their motive was right and their actions just need some refinement. With my boys, especially as they grow older, I had to learn the art of mothering to them. Throughout my mothering I have been aware that I am displaying to my boys the type of wife they should look for. To my girls I represent the type of wife they should be. Yet, as the boys grew older I realized they needed to see me as a helpmeet in very real and tangible ways. It was with that understanding that God began to teach me how to cultivate a relationship with my boys that is quite unique.  My girls and I have learned to creatively minister to the men in this house by helping them live out the vision that God has placed in each of their hearts. It has been such a wonderful adventure!

In this book, Raising Real Men, I found that the authors recognized the differences between raising daughters and sons. They draw our attention to the spiritual battle for our boys becoming men, Real Men! They recognize the need in boys for adventure, the very real and often dirty and dangerous moments they embrace, and the conflict that this can cause if misunderstood. They give many, many, scripture references at the end of each chapter for you to continue your study. Some of the topics included in this book are:

Boys Need Heroes

Adventure in the Cause of Christ

When to comfort, When to encourage (what a great topic!!)

An age for Risk

Responsibility, Then Freedom

Developing the Next Generation of Leaders

Servant Leaders

Entering the Work World

Never Send an S.O.S.

What the Bible Says about Manners

Finding a Wife

Preparing to Provide

Becoming Counselors

and many, many, more!!!

It is my opinion that this book will be a blessing to many!! I believe that if the Christian home would allow God to speak to their hearts through the message presented in this book, homes would be havens, communities would changes and the world would be impacted by Real Men for the glory of God!

Take a moment to get to know Hal and Melanie more by visiting their site at: Raising Real Men or you can add them as a “friend” on Facebook by simply clicking HERE If you would like to order your own copy or maybe even get a few and do a study with others visit HERE

Thank you Melanie for asking me to preview your book, it was an honor! Thank you for allowing me to offer a copy to our readers! To win this book all you need to do is leave me a comment here letting me know you’re interested in participating! That’s it! No other hoops to jump through! If you want to share it on your blog or Facebook feel free however, everyone has the same opportunity to win simply by leaving a comment to this post. Your name will be pulled from the ‘hat’ on Saturday, Jan. 1st, by my children and will be posted here on the blog. I must hear back from you via email with your mailing address so that I can mail this to you since it is a hard copy and not an e-book. If I don’t hear from you by Monday, Jan 3 2011, a new ‘winner’ will be pulled from the hat. Have fun and enjoy!!

With much love,

Mrs. Joseph Wood