My Beloved and My Friend- Book Review

Do you have a spouse?  How about a best friend?  Are they one in the same?  I would challenge you that they should be.  Yes, I know, we all need friendships outside of our marriages, but I really do believe that our best friend should be our spouse.  As my husband and I would testify, it has been the basis and success of our marriage for over 21 years.  Feelings of romantic love may come and go over seasons of your lives, but a best friend is someone who is committed through those seasons regardless of emotions.  There are many books out there on marriage, but a new one that trumps them all in my opinion is My Beloved and my Friend: How to be Married to Your Best Friend without Changing Spouses.  Written by Hal and Melanie Young, this 250 page book is filled with encouraging Biblical advice about how to marry and stay married to your best friend.  Written during a health crisis and intended to be used as a way to pass on information to their own children they felt was vital  pertaining to marriages, this book needs to be added to your library!

"There is potential for excitement and romance, and there can and should be a broad foundation of friendship underneath." page 3

Yes, I love anything put out by Hal and Melanie and this is no exception! The Youngs are the founders of Raising Real Men.  I have mentioned them in the past because I simply adore them!  The experience they have in raising 6 boys and 2 sweet girls makes them dynamic speakers and teachers in parenting.  Their almost 30 year Godly marriage makes them a pretty good resource for giving marriage advice.  Add to the fact that everything they speak of comes from their hearts and uses the Bible as the authoritative source, you cannot go wrong.

Twelve chapters are divided into 5 sections-
It Is Not Good For The Man To Be Alone
A Helper Suitable For Him
Fill The Earth and Subdue It
Have Dominion
and
In The Image Of God He Created Them

Each one taken from a specific verse in scripture gives inspiring stories, concrete ideas to try, and invaluable words of wisdom from a couple who has been there, done that!

I would be hard pressed to tell you which one was my favorite but let me tell you about a few things that have stayed with me since reading the book.

"If a lady believes her husband is on his way to becoming a great man, he will be.  If she has confidence in him, he'll have confidence in himself.  If she respects him, he will have self-respect.  If she believes in him, he will do everything in his power to live up to her expectations.." page 93  Oh, how I believe that and want to live that daily.  How often do we see couples tearing each other down when they should be each others' biggest fans and supporters?

"We would suggest that the question of labor division in the marriage is less about who does what than it is about advancing the family mission, enjoying one another, and serving one another." page 193   Amen!  I love that instead of telling men and woman what they SHOULD be doing, the Youngs allow for room what works best in each marriage.  While each of our situations may look different, the key is to work together and serve one another.  That's the kind of marriage I want!

"...wouldn't it make for peace if our first response to criticism was to consider our failings with humility rather than defend them with pride?" page 241  The word that got me there was PRIDE.  I wonder how many times we allow our pride to get in the way of a beautiful relationship?

Oh friends, those are only a small sample of the life changing words in this book.  I clung to every word.  I want to share it with my children and I want to share it with all of my friends, single and married.  Though I consider my marriage to be a strong one in which my husband truly is my best friend, this book opened my eyes to many areas I would like to improve, to many people I would like to bless with this book, and to a renewed faith that the Lord did masterfully create the union of husband and wife and that it is "not good that man should be alone:" Genesis 2:18

May you be blessed in reading it and convinced that you can "be married to your best friend without changing spouses!"

Pre-order a copy of My Beloved and My Friend: How to Be Married to Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses for Christmas Delivery – two months before its official release date of Valentine’s Day 2014!

 $12 for Pre-Orders Only – with Free Shipping!

Be among the first to read it!  Make your marriage even better!

http://raisingrealmen.com/marriagebook

Fun Friday Two Months of Giveaways- Hero Tales Cds

Welcome to our fourth Fun Friday of giveaways!  Make sure you pop in each Friday through October to see what we are giving away next!

Yes, this week I am teaming up again with Raising Real Men to bring you another awesome giveaway!  If you did not win our last giveaway Hal and Melanie Young offered us, now is your second chance.  (A third chance for another one of their great resources will be coming up next month- shhhhhhh!)  This time the Youngs allowed us to review their CD set Hero Tales from American History.

Does it surprise you that we love this?  After all, not only is my 11 year old son an auditory learner, but we all love to listen to CDs in the car.  And friends, this military family spends a lot of time in the car!

Hero Tales from American History is actually a book written by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge.  Yes, THAT Theodore Roosevelt!  The Youngs have taken his historically rich book and added some drama into it, from booming voices to raging cannons.  

Part 1 covers 1732- 1777 and contains stories of:

George Washington (Biography)
Daniel Boone (Biography)
George Rogers Clark (Revolutionary War)
The Battle of Trenton (Revolutionary War)
Bennington (Revolutionary War)

Part 2 – 1780-1814
Kings Mountain (Revolutionary War)
Stony Point (Revolutionary War)
Gouveneur Morris (French Revolution)
The Philadelphia (Barbary Pirates)
The Wasp (War of 1812)
The Privateer General Armstrong (War of 1812)

and brand new Part 3- 1814-1865

The Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812)
John Quincy Adams and the Right of Petition
Francis Parkman
“Remember The Alamo!” (Texas Revolution)
Hampton Roads (USS Monitor and CSS Virginia)
The Flag-Bearer (War Between The States)

The neat thing about these tales is that they are rich in lessons for children as well as adults. Theodore Roosevelt wrote them with the purpose of teaching character and virtue.  I don't know about you, but I think those are definitely areas that are sorely missed in many's education.  Luckily for kids today there is more than one way to teach those qualities. What child is going to balk at listening to a CD filled with great stories?  It is an added bonus that they will learn about important events and people in History.  Each CD is about an hour long and each story is approximately 7-11 minutes long, making them easy to listen to even on short trips out around town.

These CDs are a great addition to your library not only for just your listening fun, but also as an add in to your American History curriculum if you teach at home.  What could be more fun than to read about someone in your history book and then hear their story dramatized?  I  have found that, especially for my boys, it allows them to soak up more information and makes them excited to share what they have learned.  History comes alive to them in a real way and makes learning so much more fun.

So my son's favorite story?  King's Mountain!  His thoughts, "King's Mountain is about when the British threatened settlers and the settlers drove them off the mountain.  I like this story best because it tells where the term 'I am king of the mountain' comes from and it is exciting."

You can purchase each volume of Hero Tales for $7.00 separately or the set is now on sale for $15.00... OR you can win a set here at Family, Faith and Fridays thanks to the generosity of Hal and Melanie!  Enter the rafflecopter below for your chance to win.

Blessings, 

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Raising Real Men Review and Giveaway

Raising Real Men is the brainchild of Hal and Melanie Young - authors, publishers, and parents of  6 boys and 2 girls.  This phenomenal company has raised the bar in homeschooling and public school families alike, challenging parents to become heavily involved in the rearing of their children.  They provide books, audio tapes, and online seminars and also speak at many homeschooling conferences to help you along.  My favorite resource - the incredible book, Raising Real Men, which was awarded 2011 Book of the Year by the Christian Small Publishers Association.


Oh where to even start?  I gave a copy of this book to my husband for Father's Day several years ago and have recently enjoyed reading it myself.  If you are raising boys, this should be on your must read list!  Really!  There are plenty of books out there about raising children, many very good, but let's talk about B-O-Y-S.  Well, they are just wired a little differently and therefore you may have to parent just a little differently.  And trust me, Hal and Melanie know how to parent boys.  They do have SIX after all!

Raising Real Men is broken into two parts - the first titled Virtues in the Rough and the second, Civilization for the Tough, each covering 7 chapters.  The chapters are packed with information, hence all of the yellow highlighting in our copy. Seriously, get out a highlighter...you will want to remember much of this stuff.  Written in an easy to read and conversational tone, Hal and Melanie write from their hearts and from a Christian perspective.  It is like having a conversation with a friend.  From helping your boys find appropriate heroes, and no, superman does not count, to teaching them about stewardship and winning, they address topics that are essential to guiding our boys to be Godly leaders of their homes as well as their communities.

So what were my favorite chapters?  It is hard to stop at just a few but here are some things that really stood out to me-

"Our focus must be on leading our sons into Godly manhood, not just trying to manage them to make our lives convenient and more pleasant."  (page 21) hmmmm, blush, probably guilty of that! You know how boys are.  Compared to our girls they are messier, louder, more intense, louder.   But I love how the authors gently remind us that the Lord made them that way for a greater purpose and that when we embrace those characteristics rather than fight against them, we will bless and be blessed.  I am working on it!

"...we have an absolute responsibility to give our children physical protection..  That protection shouldn't become the unmanning of our sons, though.  Boys need to have the freedom to take reasonable risks." (page 51) ummmm, guilty again!  But they are so right!  And I am working on that one too, promise.

"...setting time limits and seeing that subjects which ran over the allotted time were finished during 'free time later were very motivating" (page 153)  OK, I realize that not all of you homeschool, but take my word on this, this is BIG!  And can be applied to things other than just schoolwork.  What is up with boys and procrastination? 

"You have got to raise boys that know when to get filthy and when to clean up.  It's all about appropriateness." (page 180) YEP!  'Nuff said.

I could go on and on with gems after life changing, yet practical, gems of truth. I told you...yellow highlighter is a must!

Got boys in your life?  You need this book.  Think you will have boys in your life?  You need this book.  Go on and get a head start.  Sometimes they are a little complicated to figure out.  But, they are worth it!

You can buy Raising Real Men with bonuses for $15.00.  You can also get it for your Kindle, in ebook form, and in audio!  A FREE study guide is included with each order.

In addition, the Youngs have graciously offered to give one free book to one of my readers!  THANK YOU Hal and Melanie!

Enter now!

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HUGE Giveaway From a Friend!

What homeschooling mom does not like free things?  Especially free school-related things?!

I think March is the perfect time to bless one of you with some fun prizes.  $390 worth of prizes actually!  Just in time for the mid-year slump blahs (yes, I made that term up)- something to put a smile on your face.

Amy, over at Bow of Bronze, has put together a prize package that is sure to bring a stop to those blahs and put a smile on your face too!  She has teamed up with four amazing companies for this  March Madness Homeschool Giveaway.




 

The first is from a company I love!
From Raising Real Men ($125 value), several books and audio sets and even a Rubber band gun!

From Notebooking Pages,a one-year membership to Ultimate Homeschool Expo from Media Angels ($89.95).  I have not yet tried this site yet, but Amy did a great review of them on her blog!  This is next on my want list!

A one-year membership to Ultimate Homeschool Expo from Media Angels ($89.95).  This site carries online expos of every imaginable subject for homeschoolers.  I am impressed with their line up pf speakers!  If you can't get to a convention this year, you need this!

And a one year Super Membership from Hands of a Child ($75).  This site is brimming with lapbooks and the Super Member gets two a month!  A fun way to add a little excitement to your school day.







So ready to win?  Just click on the Rafflecopter below and get started!

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