Raising Real Men

In the spring of 2008 I first prayed for a baby, and in the spring of 2011 God answered that prayer with the birth of our beautiful daughter.  My joy was full but so were the fears I wrestled.  In some ways I felt like a baby Christian again, caught in a whirlwind of emotions, learning and applying what I have known and trusted into a completely new life – I know I’m definitely not the first to feel that!

Friends of ours had given us a card when their first son was born; it was full of prayer requests for his little life, a prayer for every day of the month. My prayers were not quite as coherent as those, especially at first, but the urgency of the moment drove me to my knees.  “Help her, help me” baby prayers at 3am; prayers as I heard the baby monitor light up in the morning; prayers when I thought of her safety, her soul, her future; prayers  with my husband; prayers while Eliza listened in.

When people found out that I was pregnant one of the most frequent comments I received was how my creativity would discover a whole new vista of inspiration as I became a mother.  So, when Eliza came I was anticipating a fresh flow of profound poetic thought, but instead I was swept up in the constant flow of changes and feedings and “Old MacDonald had a farm!” I was expecting full sentences, but I was blubbering looking at my beautiful girl! I actually wondered if I’d ever be able to write again.  I just about tucked some thoughts away to ponder later when my brain would start to fit itself back together again (still nowhere near a completed process!). As I continued to learn the wonderful balancing act and privilege of mothering, homemaking, writing, traveling and singing, Keith and I began to write a song for Eliza choosing this theme of praying for her, and the end result was “A Mother’s Prayer.”

My parents have faithfully prayed for me my whole life, and I remember when I was younger my mum met with other mums to pray for all their children – a “Moms in Touch” group in Belfast. Even just the knowledge of that helped me, and I want Eliza to know we are praying for her and trying to guide her in this context that reaches to the call and purpose of her whole life and an understanding of the Lord’s grace and faithfulness. We’re now in the toddler stage and some of the prayer needs are shifting.  We wanted the song to reflect the different seasons – ones we had discovered and then those still to come.  We also wrote it to remind us of our promise to pray for her through all the years we’re given.  We hope this song for her – and even more our praying for her – might catch her ear and help guide her heart as she grows up.

Kristyn Getty

Keith & Kristyn Getty are some of our favorite modern songwriters. Right up there with our son, Matt Henry Young (BTW, if you haven’t listened to this song of his, you need to!). They write songs of praise that aren’t merely choruses or full of mindless repetition, but instead are full of faith-building truth just like our favorite hymnwriters of the past. So, when the Gettys contacted us to see if we’d like to share Kristyn’s newest song with our readers before Mother’s Day, of course, we said yes!

Once I’d heard it, though, I was especially glad to bring it to you because it shares the heart of every believing mother — that her child would learn to love her Lord. Enjoy!

Want to share this sweet song? Head over to the Getty’s site by clicking here and you can send a Mother’s Day card with this song — and get 15% off of their music, too!

Keep your eyes out tomorrow for a guest post by Kristyn sharing her thoughts about this song!

Melanie Young

I just read a news article about a young newscaster on the air for the first – and last – time at his first job out of college. His first words on the air were a blast of profanity. Oh, he didn’t know his microphone was on, but part of a reporter’s training is to always remember any mic nearby could be hot. The real problem, however, is that he has not learned to control his temper and his mouth. He’d been practicing pronouncing the name of the winner of the London Marathon and couldn’t get it right. He just blew up and broadcast filth to the entire audience. The station let him go and I’m sure he’s rethinking his language habits right about now.

This is a great example to teach our sons the dangers of having a bad temper and of letting ourselves use bad language. Why not go a step further, though? Continue reading »

The Young family is on the road again in May!  We’ll be speaking at four major events in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Nebraska, and kicking off the first leg of our 2013 Great Western Tour.

Do you live along these routes? Would you like to have Hal and Melanie speak to your church, support group, or just a meeting of friends? Then drop us a line at info@raisingrealmen.com and start the conversation. You may be surprised how easily and inexpensively it can be done!

Opportunities:

Sunday, May 26 – West Virginia – Hal is available to teach a Sunday evening service, or both Hal and Melanie can speak to a group anywhere along the route of Bluefield-Beckley-Charleston-Huntington

Monday-Tuesday, May 27-28 – Missouri/Indiana/Illinois/Iowa – We are planning to stop two nights somewhere in a region bordered by Huntington, W.Va.-St. Louis-Kansas City on the southern edge, and Cincinnati-Indianapolis-Des Moines on the northern edge. If you are in that area and would be interested in hosting us for a meeting around that time, we might be available!

Training the next brother to work the booth.

We’re getting ready to fly out to California for the CHEA Bay Area Homeschool Convention this weekend. I’m still part time on crutches, but as I was thinking through the trip, I realized I’m not worried. See, we’re taking two of our teens with us and I know they’ll take great care of me. It’s hard to imagine when you’re changing diapers or hauling them out of the toilet and washing them up. It’s even harder to imagine when they’re eleven or twelve and they can’t get their school work done unless you’re constantly on their case. It’s hard to imagine, alright, but the day will come when you depend on them – and it’s a lot closer than you think!

I realized how much I’ve come to depend on our teens when we began talking about the possibility of them working away for the summer. Uh oh! How could we manage without them? How would we handle all the equipment when we camped? It would take so much longer to set up, and then pack out in the morning! Who’s going to run errands – or babysit? And conferences? I don’t even want to think about doing that without those guys!

It’s time, though, for the next two to step up to the plate. It’s time for them to learn the diligence and responsibility that have made their big brothers such a blessing to us. I’m not looking forward to the work that will take, but I’ve seen the blessings and it’s so worth it! Raise your boys to work hard, to contribute to the family – and don’t despair when it seems an impossible dream! They’ll grow up before you know it!

Hal & Melanie

When our eldest was just one, we went to our first homeschool convention – in a picnic shelter (really!) in Modesto, California. It was so exciting to talk to homeschoolers and to look through all the books. We knew we wanted to homeschool and this little taste of it just whet our appetites. We’ve only missed going to a homeschool convention once in the twenty-two years since then!

It’s true the Internet has changed things. It’s easier to get information and easier to “talk” to other homeschoolers than ever before. You can even download workshop sessions from your favorite speakers whenever you like.

So why should you go to a live homeschool convention?

It’s different when you are actually there. We love the time after our workshops when we get to talk to moms and dads face to face and pray with them. You can really get to know the speakers you enjoy – and they can get to know you.

Often the people who wrote the curriculum you are interested in are right there in the book fair. Even if they’re not, there will be knowledgeable folks running each booth, usually people who’ve used those books themselves. You can talk to other parents there and gain from their experience, and take a look at new things you’ve never even heard of before.

It’s good to be away from home, too. It’s hard to focus on your own learning when the children are running in and out and the laundry is calling. It’s so relaxing to sit back next to your mate, listen and learn, then head to lunch together talking about where the Lord is leading your family. It’s good for you and good for your marriage and children, as well.

The best reasons, though, are the divine appointments. Cool things happen when you put a few thousand homeschoolers in a building together. It happens all the time. We see two dads bouncing cranky toddlers in the hall and the dad who’s been worried about high school talks about the teens he’s met there. Teens who’d been restless at home gain a new perspective and a bunch of new friends in the teen sessions. A group of moms chatters up a storm waiting for a session to start, then settles back happy with some new ideas. Old friends call delighted greetings over stacks of books. The energy and joy is amazing!

We’re going to be speaking at a number of conventions this year, including:

• Santa Clara, Calif. – Christian Home Educators Association of California (CHEA-CA), Bay Area Convention
• Spartanburg, S.C. – Teach Them Diligently
• Nashville, Tenn. - Teach Them Diligently
• Winston-Salem, N.C. – North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE)
• Omaha, Neb. – Teach Them Diligently
• Nampa, Id. (Boise area) - Christian Homeschool Organization of Idaho State (CHOIS)
• Phoenix, Ariz. – Arizona Families for Home Education (AFHE)
• Matthews, N.C. (Charlotte area) – HINTS Book Fair

If you come to one, stop by and say, “Hi!”

For more times and places, visit our Events page at RaisingRealMen.com/calendar

This article originally appeared in The Homeschool Minute.

Several of our sons have done well in state-level geography bees, including one who ranked no. 2 for the whole state. When a public school teacher turned to Melanie in amazement and asked “What curriculum do you use?” she had to admit a dark secret … we seldom use a geography curriculum at all!

So how do we help our children learn it?

• Make it accessible:  For years, we kept a world map and a U.S. map under plastic on our kitchen table (you can get tough, clear plastic in home improvement stores and fabric counters of discount stores). As we talked about current events over dinner, we’d simply illustrate them where we sat. “There’s flooding in the Hunan province of China. That’s over there, under the green beans.” One family we met had a world map which covered the wall of their playroom, from floor to ceiling! Continue reading »

I know that God can, has, and will take care of us. I have seen the healing hand of God protecting and providing for us through every heartbeat, every breath, every moment, every day of the year. I know that God will be our strength, our fortress, our mighty rock – but do I believe it? My father fought Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma three years ago. When he was diagnosed, he had a tomato-sized tumour between his lungs, and spots of cancer and his lymph nodes, liver and spleen. The oncologists at Duke only gave Dad a 55% chance of making it until June – 6 months. Thankfully, the Lord saw fit to preserve my Father for a while yet, and Dad’s had two and a half years of clean scans. This week, though, his oncologist called with some disturbing news. He had been looking over the results from Dad’s last panel of blood tests, and they showed a higher level of a specific antibody that might indicate a return of Dad’s cancer. I’m struggling with my emotions again – I can barely stand the thought of losing my Dad. I have faith, but now it’s being tested. Continue reading »

Melanie has a recurring dream that she is back in college, final exams are approaching, and suddenly she realizes with horror that she’s been signed up for a class that she’s forgotten to attend all semester. Thankfully, that never actually happened to her, but that kind of panic feels pretty familiar sometimes.

We’ve had a few really challenging years in our homeschool as our family faced cancer, a baby in ICU, starting a new business and ministry, and so many other trials it sounds like bad fiction. There are days we’ve had that “What are we doing? What are we even supposed to be doing?” fear. Now, our children have always been homeschooled; it’s a commitment we made before the first was even born, so we don’t think, “Maybe we ought to put them back in school.” There’s no school in their past to go back to! That doesn’t stop us from having doubts and anxieties, though, does it?

So, what do you do when it seems everything is falling apart around you? Here are a few things we’ve learned along the way:

• God’s curriculum for our children is often different than ours and that’s not just okay, it’s good. We’ve had to simplify and let extras go in our schooling at times, but the character and life lessons our children have learned are amazing and humbling. Continue reading »