Raising Heroes

One of my favorite blogs is Raising Homemakers. Until recently, I didn't have any homemakers to raise. God gave my husband and I three boys to start off our family. It had gotten to the point where I figured I just wouldn't have any girls at all and this began me thinking - what's the male equivalent to homemakers?

I thought of words and concepts like "arrows" or "workers" or "leaders" but none had the right zing to it. Now that the Lord has blessed me with not one but two homemakers, ironically I finally thought of an umbrella term that sums up the type of men I am trying to raise up for God...

Heroes

I want to raise up heroes. Heroes for God, heroes for their wives, heroes for their children, heroes for their community.

I'm raising heroes.

Heroes walk with the Savior. Heroes lift others up. Heroes are hard workers. Heroes honor their parents, love their siblings and keep their hearts and minds pure for the day they will marry the woman God has for them. They will love that woman as Christ loved the church.

Heroes do not deny Christ, they feast daily upon the scriptures and to their wives and children they may as well have a cape on their shoulders as they strive righteously to provide, to love and to protect.

Heroes are trained - they are not born.

Proverbs 22:6

King James Version (KJV)

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

If you do not diligently train your hero everyday do not expect a hero to magically manifest when he turns 18 just as you wouldn't expect a girl to know the art of homemaking automatically at the age of 18 simply because she was born a female.


God's WORD trains heroes. Period.

Men who follow God's word aid in training heroes. Don't expect to leave a boy child with no righteous role models and have him figure it out on his own. That will produce mixed results at best. Fathers, uncles, cousins, brothers, Scout masters, neighbors, church brethren, etc. are needed to train heroes.

Train him to love God, to lean on God for everything.

Train him to love and respect his future wife by keeping his heart pure now.

Train him to love his future children by patiently loving his siblings.

Train him to work hard now by giving him work today! Don't let him grow soft! Train him to love work and to work to the glory of God!

Your man will lead his family but first, you, his mother, must lead him. Lead him to God. Lead him to be a hero! :)

Natural Dyed Easter Eggs!

 

We start with eggs from our backyard chickens. The Ladies lay a variety of colors, everything from white, to dark brown, to light brown, to green. This makes a great color canvass to start from. If you don't have access to backyard chickens you can still find brown and white eggs at the store to give you a little variety :)

 

 

 

Next we select some to dye with turmeric. In a quart pot I boil the eggs with about a 1/4 cup turmeric. The picture doesn't show the hues well but they are a variety of yellow browns and vibrant yellows.

 

 

Next we roll some of the eggs in juice for a marble effect. You can use blueberry juice, beet juice, black berry juice, kale juice, etc. Seen here is blueberry juice. Just roll them and let them dry. Brush off any pulp or seed bits.

 

 

Some eggs we leave plain, some are dyed with turmeric, some are marbled with juice.

 

 

 

Last, the kids select some of the eggs to color with beeswax crayons. The end result is eggs with lots of texture and many vibrant, natural colors :)

 

Hope you're enjoying you Easter egg dying this week :)

 

 

Counting the days by scripture

The year just has a way of rolling right along! It's nearly Easter and we find ourselves quickly hurtling through April, May not too far off. In these times of long days and short years how do we mark the times, the moments? Are we praising the Lord through out the day in all the randomness of life?

Little Miss plays dress up and has that Saintly glow about her that children seem to have.

He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.  Psalm 148:13-14

Braveheart plays music for us all.

...and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. 2 Chronicles 23:12-14

My oldest daughter and I enjoy the inspiring LDS General Conference together.

(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)1 Samuel 9:8-10

Visiting my grandmother for my birthday.

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.2 Timothy 1:4-6

Beautiful Boy practices his reading in home school.

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:Proverbs 1:4-6

Cupcakes! Made with whole wheat flour, pink icing dyed with beets.

I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.Job 23:11-13

I knitted a hat for the new baby coming. 

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;Colossians 2:1-3

Little Missy feeds Bell.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.Isaiah 40:10-12