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Raising Real Men helps you make Biblical family life practical with articles, workshops, online classes, great resources, and character-building gifts. Join our newsletter for ongoing encouragement and resources you need.

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Our Cup of Joy Runneth Over
KNOXVILLE - 413 miles:  We were amused and delighted to see this complementary coffee cup in our hotel room last night. Of course, it was just unusual and funny, but it really fit the situation, too! Our cup of joy does run over with God's blessings! Some of you will remember our plea for thoughts…
Posted by Melanie in Overland Express Tour
Our Summer Saved: Dry Pro Cast Cover Review
Every June, we move the whole family down to Hal's family's Lake House for weeks of swimming, kayaking, snoozing in the hammock, and most importantly, writing! It's our "happy place" -- we spent the first three months of our marriage at the Lake a quarter of a century ago and it makes us happy to…
Posted by Melanie in Book and Product Reviews
The Boat: New Tools
I once saw a documentary about a German appliance company. New employees spent six months learning to use basic metal tools--basically, a half a year devoted to filing blocks of metal. Maybe it works in Germany, but I've always learned better if I had an immediate, practical use for the new skill. So the boat…
Posted by Hal in Projects
The Boat: The Most With The Least?
When I went looking for plans for small, home-built boats, I found a whole community of people working on the question--can you build a usable boat with a single sheet of plywood? The answer is a qualified but enthusiastic YES. It's qualified because you're pushing the limits of marine architecture--we don't know yet how much…
Posted by Hal in Projects
The Boat: Where Do We Start …
Ever hear the phrase, "from stem to stern"?  Okay, this is the stem. I decided to approach this boat project with a few design goals -- (1) Start simple. We've build some things before but never a boat, so we found a plan with some good instructions to see if we could learn how boats…
Posted by Hal in Projects
Row, Row, Row Your Boat …
What do you do when you want a boat for vacation but you don't have one to borrow and can't afford to buy? Daniel Beard said build your own! Every year we spend some time at my family's little lake house in South Carolina, relaxing, writing, and doing some planning. We have a kayak we…
Posted by Hal in Projects
The Value of Competition
Twelve years ago, Elaine Forman, the children's librarian at our public library decided to form a chapter of Tarheel Junior Historians for local homeschoolers. I never dreamed it would change our lives. [caption id="attachment_3347" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Our club about to perform in a historical dance competition at the State Fair"][/caption] Tarheel Junior Historians is an organization by…
Posted by Melanie in Uncategorized
Hymn of the Week: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation! All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near; Praise Him in glad adoration. Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth, Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so…
Posted by Melanie in Hymns
Last Chance to Claim Your Prize
   Thank you so much for joining us at our Facebook Party to celebrate Raising Real Men being named Christian Small Publishers 2011 Book of the Year! Hey, dear ones, please check to see if you've won a prize in our Facebook Party. If your name is in red, I haven't heard from you at all.…
Posted by Melanie in Contests, Uncategorized
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