Heart Reflections Live

We are delighting in our baby boys day by day watching them grow and learn, despite me having to pack all the girls' homeschool stuff into plastic tubs, after some paper work was joyfully torn and nearly eaten! They are getting into everything- crawling fast, pulling themselves up, and even attempting to take tiny steps, while holding onto things, and they're not quite 10 months yet...

We are just as committed in raising our little princes to walk in godliness, as we are with our little girls, and maintaining a happy, old-fashioned home in which to do so. I've been inspired afresh with my Christian parenting, imperfect as it is, through Mrs June Fuentes latest series on her blog- A Wise Woman Builds her House- The link is on my sidebar, and also a few articles back.

I've been meditating lately on this scripture with regard to all our children: Psalm 144:12 "That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similtude of a palace;" I'd read this many times before with regard to our daughters, but not since having our sons. Grown up in their youth, refers to the age of 12 upwards having a maturity in their lives and outlook. We do not want our sons to become rebellious video-game playing Peter Pans in their youth who never want to grow up and take responsibility! We want them to become noble, strong youth, Like Daniel and his 3 friends in the Bible, who were so different from those around them. We want to instill such a love for the Scriptures that men such as these become their heroes and Not Superman, Spiderman etc- We don't do superheroes at our house!- this is not meant to condemn any one else who does, but we have to lead our little family in the way God directs for us :-)

Has anyone else noticed how hard it is to find nice traditional boyswear in the shops? We don't embrace the current trend to dress even babies as rock stars-YUCK! Let our children be children, I say! If anyone knows of any Aussie stores or online stores that stock nice traditional boyswear that doesn't cost the earth, please let me know! I'm still new to the world of little boys, you know! It's so easy to find beautiful dresses for girls at thrift stores, but so hard to find nice things for boys...

Books for boys have also been in my thoughts lately. We have heaps of vintage Little Golden books that have boy stories in, as do our old Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories, but what of Good classics for when they're older? Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson, I believe we have, I'm keeping an eye out for originals by R.M. Ballantyne- I believe my Dad may have some of these-, and we have heaps of Christian bios of such heroes as Spurgeon, Bunyan, George Muller and the like, but I'm open to suggestions for other good classics for boys. We try to buy our books original and unabridged, and good morals are always a must- ideas please????

I'm so excited about raising boys!

Labels: sons, twins, Youth

I would really like to recommend this website http://maidensofworth.org/ for youth, or for parents of teens. Anna & Miriam are still in their teens & busy studying, but have taken the time with the blessing of their families to set up this website to encourage others in their age group, especially young ladies, to pursue useful godly lives.

Miriam is a talented musician & Anna has a passion for praise ballet & they both use their giftings to the glory of God. Some of the links on their sidebar are worth checking out too.

If you scroll down a little you'll see a recent article on the girls' purity rings, and they each give their testimonies of why they wear them. I often show our little girls some of the pictures on this blog of some of the activities the girls have done. It's important in this day & age to find godly role models for our children to look up to. If you have older children, then a bit of "positive peer pressure" won't go astray.

Labels: godly living, young ladies, Youth

I don't often recommend sites for youth, as it's not often I find something really worth while- but I have & here they are: www.therebelution.com & http://ylcf.org/ (The Young Ladies Christian Fellowship).

Both of these sites are being run by young people for young people. The Rebelution was started by 2 brothers of Joshua Harris (who wrote "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" & other good books on Christian courtship). These young men challenge fellow teens to be responsible "Do hard things", respect their parents, older folk & their sisters in Christ. They recently conducted a Modesty Survey online amongst some godly young men- the results are very interesting & it's well worth a look. Girls & guys alike will be challenged & inspired. They also recommend some great resources in the way of books etc. It would be a great source of material for some Aussie Youth groups. If you work with youth, have a look.

The Young Ladies Christian Fellowship will appeal to girls from as young as 10 to young marrieds. The blog articles are many & varied with my favourite writers being Gretchen, Natalie & Lanier. If you or your children are bookworms, you'll love their recommended reading lists & book reviews. You will read heartfelt articles on being content while single, loving the Lord, preparing a Hopechest (we Aussies call them glory boxes), preparing for marriage, motherhood & more. Natalie also has some interesting articles on her travels to other countries. These girls are great role models for younger ones & if our daughters grow up to follow in their footsteps, we'll be very blessed indeed.

Labels: recommended sites, Youth