For My Sons!

I recently received the book A Guy's Guide To Life, by Jason Boyett, from Booksneeze.  Time and again you will see me post book reviews as part of this program, I'll try to make it relevent to my blog site.  As the mother of three young sons, I chose this book to review so that I could read it and stick it on the shelf for future reference.  None of my boys are of the age even close to adolescence (wheww!)  But considering the past 6 1/2 years has gone by so quickly it is only a matter of time that my oldest WILL be an adolescent boy and so will my 2nd and so will my 3rd!!!  AHHHHH!   I don't have any teens yet but I'll have three teen boys all at the same time.  Do you see what is going to happen to me?   I decided I better start preparing myself now for what is to come.  If I study to show myself approved at least I will be prepared for what lies ahead!  I'm sure no mother can ever be 100% prepared for what a teenage boy brings to the table but I don't want to be blindsided by some of the things I ended up reading in this book.  Mother's of girls concern themselves with their daughters staying away from "bad boys" and finding a nice young man to spend their lives with.  I am the mother who is determined to work hand in hand with my husband (a man who has more integrity in his big toe then most people have in their entire being) to raise the boys who every mother wants her daughter to marry.  I think that is a good goal.  I think it is a Godly goal and I believe with all of my heart it is who God has designed all men to be through faith.  There are so many books out there to help women better understand the development of a man -- Wild at Heart by Bevere; Mark of a Man by Elisabeth Elliott; Bringing Up Boys by Dobson -- too many to even mention all of them, those just happen to be my favorite (side note:  if you have a hard time with your husband I suggest reading the first two, you are doing your husband a diservice if you expect him to be more like you - it's okay to admit it, you know you want him to do things the way you do). Okay back to the book and boys...Boys are born basic barbarians (actually so are women we're just softer) and it is a parent's responsibility to tame that little barbarian, get the Word in Him and help guide him to the purpose that God has for him.  If we can succeed at doing these things without controlling their lives, damaging their self-esteem or bringing accusation against them for typical male behavior, I believe we will have raised good Godly men.  So, my blog post for today doubles as a book review because this is what happened when I read through this book....I realized what a huge task I have set before me.  As a mom and as a woman, I have absolutely NO CLUE what it means to be a man.  But I do know this, I desperately desire to see a new generation of men raised to the glory of God and I believe that my purpose in life is to help three of them succeed.