Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Mark of a Man

Last week was DH's birthday and I made him a photobook! I titled it "The Mark of a Man'' to commemorate and celebrate how I feel about where he is in his life right now, in my opinion he embodies what a man should be, I may be biased, but that's surely how I feel! :) I concentrated mainly on describing what he means to our family as a father and a husband, and also in his profession as a teacher. Of course there was a lot more I could have included, but this was manageable and so meaningful to us. Oh did I mention he absolutely loved it!!

I thought of the title first, then tried but was not eloquent enough to put into words what I meant. So I googled and found this fantastic quote from Elisabeth Elliot's book The Mark of a Man (she is one of my favorite authors, I have read many of her books, including Let Me Be a Woman, but did not know of this one!):

The Mark of a Man:
The world cries for men who are strong: strong in conviction, strong to lead, to stand, to suffer... glad to shoulder the burden of manliness. Characteristics of manhood that were exemplified in the life of Christ. Responsibility, sacrifice, courage, obedience, initiative, forgiveness and endurance...
by Elisabeth Elliot

Wow.. what do you think of that?
To me that is absolutely beautifully and meaningfully put. And indeed the world cries out for men like that! I know there are some differing views, as indicated in the reviews of the book on amazon, mainly regarding the strict views of manhood that Elisabeth Elliot lays out in her book. But I'm totally sold.

I find myself asking if we are raising our boys to be men as so defined. We fuss over their studies, over the right influence they are getting through media, books, friends, over their health, diet, and so on. Again I'm reminded on the main objective of our parenting role, to guide them to know God and love Him for themselves, and to be like Christ. And hopefully responsible, strong, courageous, .. men.

Obviously we need to ground them in God's word, and show them by example how to walk with Him. And thankfully (as I said in my book for dh), they have their father as an example. Are there other things I can do to train up men, as a mom? For a start, i'm ordering the book to read with them! And do you think my 'training' Ryan to carry heavy loads for mommy will help in some way ...? (smile)

Much food for thought indeed. And much prayer required too, of course, as we parent sons. Do share with me if you have similar thoughts!

I'm excited to show you all the book! I chose to do it in a 8x8 format, photos on the right pages, and journalling on the left pages, with a couple of full page photos to complete it. Below are the inside pages.
The pictures above are of Ryan when he was one! He was once a chubby baby! And noticed dh has not aged at all in the last 12 years??
That's baby Ryan on the left and baby Jared on the right, oh how I miss them as babies!
And can you tell which is the photo from our honeymoon?
This time, due to the limited time in which I had to pull it together in time for dh's birthday, I did not have time to send the book to the US for printing, but instead printed it locally at FotoHub, it was beaufitul, printed on thick photo print paper, and opened flat, cost about US$54 for 30 pages, (much more than it would on shutterfly if I had a discount) but I got it in three days(!)


And you can find all the right side of the albums as a 10 page template set available in the store


Now I've pulled out two more 8.5x11 layouts that I love from the past, which I'm now progressively getting ready for printing into a book(can't wait!), have put them into templates for you below :)


Actually I've really been productive, 3 more layouts from Hokkaido trip have been completed. All snow, snow, and more snow days spent last december in Otaru and Niseko, it was as we planned, 10 days of non-stop snow and winter wonderland for us tropical folks, we totally soaked (or was it froze) it in!
 (click on image to see larget view) 

This template is now available as a set in the store HERE

43 comments:

  1. What an AWESOME gift! Today is my hubby's b-day and I'm kicking myself for not having thought of the same thing. He's getting a beard trimmer.... :-/ And, the BEST thing for your boys is having a husband to emulate. Our two boys had a wonderful example in their father, and they are now so much like him.
    Thank you for the great template.

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  2. 3 templates! Thank you so very much! I did the same thing - but for our mothers for Mother's Day! My mom still can't talk about it without getting emotional!

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  3. YIN!!! You're back!! ... I've been using your templates over and over ... have done 30+pages in the last 3 nights!! And I've decided that I'm going to delete every other template I've ever downloaded ... why would I keep them, when all I use are YOURS?? Why mess with perfection :-) ...

    Have a great one!

    http://www.homemakingirl.blogspot.com

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  4. Amazing! And yes i totally agree with the biblical man perspective. We need more Christ-like men and young men. So thankful for young families training their children in the way of the Lord. Having 2 daughters i am praying that they meet godly men from godly families to continue to be an influence in the world for Christ. Thank you so much for your generosity and your honest, sweet, God-honoring sharing.

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  5. Thanks so much, I love your templates!

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  6. That is a wonderful book you put together for your husband-it's very inspirational; I'll have to do something like it for Christmas for my own husband!

    It's good to see you back. :-)

    Julie

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  7. What a treasure for your husband! I agree with you completely.

    I LOVE the painted "trees" in the background of your Otaru page. Did you make those?

    Thanks for sharing the templates, Yin! :)

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  8. Lovely photobook in just 3 days!! (you're a superhero):)

    I like everything you put inside. You can notice all the love for your husband and sons,so sweet.

    I'm still working on my boyfriend's photobook..a lot of work to do :S but I hope to finish as quick as I can do.

    Thanks for share with us all your knowledge!

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  9. Just looking at the book you did for your husband brought tears to my eyes and made me realize I probably ought to do something similar for the love of my life, who still opens doors for me. Thanks for such a great post and for a wonderful template.

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  10. Beautiful book!
    Thanks for the templates! :)

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  11. What a beautiful gift for your husband. The fact that you both love the Lord and are even asking if you are raising your children to be godly men is a blessing for their lives.

    Thanks for all you do and share.

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  12. Hi Yin!
    What a treasure for your husband!

    Your posts are always so inspirational. Thanks for sharing from your heart!

    I recently bought a book called 'Raising Real Men'. Here's the website if you'd like to check it out..
    http://www.raisingrealmen.com/

    I'm on chapter 3 and have already been challenged in my parenting of my son.

    Thanks for the templates...and I love, love, love the templates you contributed to the Daily Digi mega kit for subscribers.

    Hugs to you!

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  13. What a beautiful book. You have an amazing gift of creativity. Thank you for the templates in the previous lpost. I can't wait to get playing!

    Blessings

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  14. Yin, your book is gorgeous! You have so much talent! Thank you for yet again being generous enough to share your templates with all of us!!

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  15. What a sweet and thoughtful gift for your husband.

    Always love checking out your blog. Over the past year, I have used a lot of your store and free templates to make 2 beautiful books of my trips.

    Thanks so much!

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  16. Thank you so much! i make my "summer diary hollidays 2010" with your templates, it was fantastic! You can see the result here: http://boutsde.blogspot.com/2010/10/lizzie-fini.html

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  17. awesome gift!! I'm sure he loves it to bits. The green one is the cover?? Very nice leh

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  18. Such an excellent Idea. My husbands 3oth birthday is next week and I was going to give him a list of my 30 favorite things about him, now I am thinking I want to make him a photo book from it. I am also interested in reading the book you mentioned. As a mother of 4 sons I also feel the need to raise them as strong Christ-centered men. Thanks for the template.

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  19. You seriously always have the BEST templates. I take alot of photos and most templates only have 1 or 2 per page! Really?!

    So thank you!!!

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  20. I am so inspired by your pages ... thanks so much! mj

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  21. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful templates!

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  22. You do such beautiful work. Thank you for sharing!

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  23. Thanks so much.
    I love doing doubles with many photos and space for journaling and you could have created this just for me.
    Blessings.

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  24. so pretty BOOK!! and thanks for 3 free templates!!... please tell us when yu will have a sale?? i need to buy some of templates i want
    a hug

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  25. Yin,
    Just found your blog today through a daily digi post. I loved your book, the quote from Elisabeth Elliot, and your Christian perspective on the whole thing. Thanks! Plan to read your blog often.
    Sarah

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  26. Your layouts are so gorgeous! thanks for taking the time to share everything with us!

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  27. Thank you so much for the templates, but - even more - THANK YOU for sharing your book with us! I'm off to your store - this will be perfect for my wonderful husband, this will be Christmas!!

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  28. Beautiful book - those memories (& attitude) are priceless to preserve.
    I love the page colors also - was that a kit or individual pages or did you make the backgrounds yourself?

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  29. I've been a long-time fan of your templates, especially your generous freebies! You were one of the first sites I found a year and a half ago that consistently offers quality templates. Thanks so much! I also love your design style. Do you have a layout gallery somewhere?

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  30. As always, your work looks amazing. Even though I don't use the 8 1/2 x 11 pages, I think it is cool that you are pulling them out for those who do! Thank you for the template.

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  31. Many Thanks !!!!!
    I like your templates !!!!!

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  32. Книга просто чудесная!!!

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  33. a lot of thanks for your work, your creativity and your templates.
    from France
    Mo

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  34. Thank you!! I love all your layouts and your book is wonderful!!

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  35. I downloaded two doublepage layouts by yin. How do I use this when get a book published so that the pages will line up with each other? Thank you.

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  36. Reply to Anonymous: Please see my other posts (see sidebar links on Yin Designs page) on how to print double pages and more template how to. If you follow the printing company instructions to size the jpegs the size they advise, then you should be able to 'drop'' the left and right sides into their software so that the corners all align, and also visually check that the pages will line up with each other. Hope this helps! Yin

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  37. Hi Yin, I just found your website today. What a great site. I want to ask a specific about the Nov 3rd entry - I love your "Mark of a Man" book, what a great present to give your DH. What is the font you used for the "Faith, Hope & Love" quote? That's 1 of my favorite verses .. do you mind sharing the image (in larger format so I could print it). I really need to get the template so I can make this album for my DH as well. Thank you also for sharing your christian perspective, it's nice to know there is a great christian artist out-there!:-)
    Blessings to you!
    -grace
    ghalim {at} yahoo {dot} com

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  38. Thank you so much for the wonderful template, just love your eye candy.

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  39. I just wanted to thank you for the template! I used it on a page here.... http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/gallery/member/258460-zanyzookeeper/1709923-baby-sheepies/?c=t

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  40. I just had to comment on this post even though I am reading so long after you posted it. I love EE books too. Especially the Let me be a Woman book. I am so glad to hear that you are tryiing to raise your sons in this manner. I wish everyone would. I have enjoyed your templates for a while now but I am greatful to have found your site and your thoughts about Bible study etc. I'll be visiting here again.

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  41. What a cool gift for your DH!

    Thank you for the template!

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  42. Thank you for the template I used it with my friend..I love all your work..I have downloaded some of your templates and I am excited to use them..Now its easier for me to organize my pictures! Thanks a lot! More power and keep on inspiring us..good job! anyways here's the link of my work :) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150222043114421&set=a.49475439420.57382.523319420&type=1

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