4 hours ago
I’ve been thinking lately about what kind of habits and skills I want my children to have in place before they are technical adults. When I pause a moment and realize that my oldest will be eighteen in a mere five years, that is sobering. What kind of things do I need to teach him before he launches? Five years doesn’t feel like enough.
It is tempting to focus on college prep skills - how to write a great essay, time management, how to take a test, how to read difficult books. Or maybe we should focus on life skills - how to not overdraw your bank account, how to file taxes, how to change a tire, how to be a valuable worker and hold down a job. And of course, there are character traits I want them to have - how to persevere, be reliable, be honest, be a courageous person, be an encourager, forgive others, be kind.
All these things are important, and of course we make plans to instill all those things in our children. But what are the most important things they need to learn? As I fret and worry about all the skills that my children should have, with an eye on the ticking clock, a verse niggles at the back of my mind.
“‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her.’” Luke 10:41
The good part Mary chose was to sit at the feet of Jesus, to hear His words, to soak them in and treat them as the treasure they were.
This is the one thing that is needed. My kids will learn everything else at some point, but if they miss this one thing, they’ve missed it all.
The habit of being in the Word daily, verses hidden in their hearts, the skill of how to study the Bible - this is the one thing that is needed, because these are Jesus’s very words. This is how we grow in our love of Him, and if we’ve missed Him, we’ve missed everything. So at the top of my list of things I want to give my children is the skills to know Him through His word.
Daily Bible Study And Memorization
When I was 9 years old, I read a fiction book in which one of the characters casually mentioned that you can read the whole Bible in a year if you read three chapters every day and five on Sunday. It was like a lightbulb turned on. Shortly after that, I used some of my own money to buy a devotional book, and started a daily Bible routine of my own, reading three chapters a day.
I read through the Bible several times by the time I reached the teenage years, and just reading the Bible and letting it get into all the corners of my mind was hugely helpful. My mom also took us to a community Bible study, and we learned alot of basic Bible study skills there. We attended a small country church that deeply cared about encouraging the kids to memorize Bible verses, and they offered two dollars toward summer camp fees for every verse we memorized. I memorized hundreds of verses before I graduated high school.
By the time I was an adult, I had my devotional routine firmly entrenched, I knew many Bible verses, and generally could find whatever passage I was looking for. Love of the Bible is bolstered by a familiarity with the Bible, and that is a beautiful thing. Since they were little, I’ve been trying to give my own kids both those things by equipping them to develop their own daily devotional habit.
These are a few ideas for helping kids with daily Bible time and verse memorization.
-Encourage your kids to join you for your quiet time each morning. I think the most impactful way to help your kids develop the habit of being in God’s Word every day is to make it a habit for yourself. I know that I have memories of my mother sitting at the kitchen table every morning, with her coffee in hand and Bible open. Knowing she was making her own Bible time a priority was a great encouragement to me.
-Read the Bible together. Sometimes kids go through a period of struggling with reading or understanding the Bible. Don’t let learning struggles get in the way of giving your children God’s Word! I’ve been reading the Bible with my kids as part of our homeschool morning time for the last couple years, and it has been so enriching for our family. It has opened up so many spiritual conversations that we may not have had otherwise. My goal is to read every book of the Bible to them before they graduate.
-Give them external motivation if necessary. I personally am not opposed to giving kids some sort of reward for being faithful in Bible reading, for memorizing verses, or for reading the whole Bible themselves. There may be a danger of them only reading the Bible because of the reward, but I also know that God’s Word is living and powerful, and does not return void (Hebrews 4:12,Isaiah 55:11). Even if their motivations may start out as less than stellar, my hope is that the little extra push will establish a habit in them that will not be easily broken later.
-Join a Bible memory program, or come up with your own program and reward system. I loved that the church in which I grew up had a meaningful reward for Bible memory, and when we had children I knew we needed something similar. We’ve been part of an Awana program at church for years now, and it has been a great way to encourage my kids in Bible memorization. As I’m starting to have kids graduating from Awana now, I am trying to mull over ways to create my own program so they remain motivated to memorize.
-Memorize verses together. We’ve had alot of success whenever we have established a routine of learning Bible verses as a family. I usually say a phrase, and have the kids repeat it, until we are comfortable, and then we go to the next phrase. Sometimes I’ll write the verse on a board, and between repeating it the kids will take turns erasing a word, until we can say it with no help from the board. Faithfully learning more passages of Scripture together is something I’m still working on, because I can see how those passages we have done have stuck in my children’s minds.
Developing Bible Study Skills
Aside from solid Bible reading habits and memorization skills, as my kids began to reach the teen years, I want them to learn how to deeply study a book of the Bible on their own. Though I’ve done Bible studies at church and Bible study guides on my own for years, I have only learned how to deeply study a book of the Bible on my own over the last couple years. It’s been so enriching for me, and I would like to pass those skills to my kids before they grow up so they can enter adulthood with an established method of how to rightly handle God’s Word.
Instead of a list of tips, in this section I want to give a review of a book that I recently read. It is a wonderful tool for helping teens learn how to really study the Bible before they leave home.
Transformed By Truth by Katherine Forster
My previous tips are mostly aimed at helping kids develop a habit of Bible study, but I think Transformed By Truth by Katherine Forster is a wonderful way to address the heart of Bible study. Forster is a National Bible Bee winner, and in the process of studying for the Bible Bee, she has gained so many wonderful insights into the Bible and how to dig deeply into God’s Word. She has written this book for teens in the hopes of spurring them on toward a deeper love of the Bible.
Forster shares her personal experience of learning to study and love the Bible. She starts with presenting the “big picture” of the Bible, and why this book should be the most important one in the world to us. Throughout the book she systematically shows us why we should study the Bible. I love what she says here:
“Bible study isn’t about gaining a bunch of knowledge. It’s not about becoming a better Christian so God will love you more (the Lord forbid we ever think that way!). It’s not about being smarter so we can feel better about ourselves. In fact if all we ever do is collect information about God without letting it touch our hearts and move us to love and wonder, we’ve completely missed it. In Bible study, we get to behold our God.” pg. 81
After diving into the why of Bible study, Forster gets into the “how” of Bible study. There is so much meat in this section of the book. She addresses developing the habit of Bible reading and studying the Bible with the local church. Then she gives a thoroughly helpful explanation of how to do your own inductive study of a book of the Bible. She teaches us the proper methods of observation, interpretation, and application, and gives us a myriad of tools to enrich our Bible study - all while offering advice on how to avoid misinterpretation by comparing Scripture with Scripture and always keeping context in mind.
“On our own, we’re liable to misinterpret the Scriptures, twist them to fit our own desires, and misuse them to build up our own self-righteousness while tearing others down. We’re handling weighty, everlasting things with fingers of dust. Why would we think our hands could hold these truths on our own? Why would we think our minds could comprehend the words of God Himself unless He graciously gives us help?” pg. 106
Forster also covers so many Bible study tools that the vast majority of people are probably not familiar with. You may have used a concordance before, but do you know how Strong’s concordance can be used to find out the specific Greek or Hebrew word that is used? Do you know how to use a lexicon to understand further shades of meaning in the original language? These are some of the deeper Bible study skills that Forster walks teens through in this book.
Throughout Transformed By Truth, Forster’s love for and high view of Scripture is embedded into every page. You can’t help but catch it by the end of the book.
This is a book I will be having my middle schoolers read as part of their homeschool this year. My oldest is nearly done reading it, and after my daughter reads it, I want to go through the “how” sections again as Forster walks us through an inductive study of 3 John. I think putting these skills into practice will be so impactful for them, giving them confidence for future independent Bible study. And it will also be so meaningful for me. It’s a privilege to get to teach these things to my children before they are grown, and Forster’s book is a wonderful guide and encouragement for learning together.
Time is ever slipping through my fingers. I’m reminded of the psalmist asking the Lord to “teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). As my children grow older, my prayer is for the Lord to teach me to number the days of my children’s childhood, and use them well. The burden of preparing them to enter the world as Christian young people is overwhelming, but it is a weighty gift to have these years to pour into them. I want to make sure we don’t miss out on the one thing that matters most.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
Note: I requested a copy of Transformed By Truth from the publisher in exchange for a free review. This is my honest opinion.
Yesterday we took a day off our typical homeschool work, and went to see The Wild Robot as a family. Aside from being just a visually beautiful film, I was touched by the message, and found myself pondering the themes as they relate to motherhood.
Roz is a robot that has become stranded on an uninhabited island, and is given the task of caring for a baby bird. She doesn’t want to take on this task at first, but finds she must. She doesn’t know what she’s doing, she’s inconvenienced, her efficiency suffers, she makes many mistakes. Her robot plates are dinged as she rescues her charge many times, and the shine is rubbed off her shoulder, near her neck, where Bright Beak settles every night to sleep. But somewhere along the way she becomes more than her programming - she treasures her memories with Bright Beak, and they become a part of her, something that no reprogramming can take away.
The movie brought tears to my eyes several times, and I think the theme is a poignant one for this age. When motherhood is discussed for the modern woman, there seems to be an immense focus on everything negative. Why would any woman give up her dreams, her career, her independence, her body, her time to devote her life to another? What if a woman becomes a mother and loses herself? But the message of The Wild Robot is that yes, you will lose yourself, and maybe that’s exactly the wonderful thing about being a mother.
Even if motherhood is something one has entered into reluctantly, it is also something that holds the possibility to make a woman better - more - than she was before. All the dings and scrapes are not damages, they are marks of love forever left on your body and your heart, beauty in place of everything you’ve given up for your children. Just as Jesus calls us to lose our lives, to repent and believe and put off the old self with our sinful desires so we may gain eternal life in Him - so it is possible for motherhood to reflect that transformation in its own, imperfect way. We also lay down our lives in everyday ways for our children, and the beautiful gift from God is that as we do, He hands our lives back to us again - maybe battered in the process, but polished; more brilliant than it could have ever been before, crowned with the splendor of sacrificial love.
I think there is a picture here too for the child. Roz must “make it all up” as she goes, but she does her best. She doesn’t teach Bright Beak in exactly the right way to swim or fly, but she gets up every day and tries again and again. She finds others to help teach her little charge, she puts immense energy and creativity into helping to launch him to his place as a full-grown bird. Bright Beak doesn’t always appreciate her efforts, and there is strain in their relationship, but by the end he learns to not just to see her mistakes, but to see that she has done her best. She has given of herself to help him soar - and without her, he wouldn’t have made it at all.
As children grow up, they sometimes see more of their parent’s flaws, and that is always going to be a hard transition. But we children have a responsibility to not just see the mistakes, but the sacrifices, and the love behind every step a good-hearted parent took to help us get where we are.
So if you have a mom and dad that are worth even a little bit of their salt, you should do as Bright Beak does and fly through glass to make sure they know - to tell them you made it because of them, and you love them for all the things they gave for you. Through all their foibles and triumphs, they made you who you are - and through your struggles and affection, you made them who they are too. That’s the exchange of parent and child, and it’s a glorious gift for both - something that The Wild Robot captures in a lovely way.
I just looked back in the blog archives and saw that I apparently haven't shared a Wednesday Five post in almost a year! That is unacceptable, because these posts are so simple to put together. They give me a simple chance to share some good finds, or a bit of encouragement, without having to sit down and outline a more intensive article-type post. I am making a goal of sharing one of these every other week over this homeschool year (or at least once a month?), and this is the first installment!
A Quote
"For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
-C. S. Lewis
I share this quote because if you replace the "pipe in their teeth" with "a cup of tea on the table", this perfectly describes my own experience with trying to read more Puritan books. I have been more moved, inspired, and convicted by the Puritans than any modern devotional book I've ever read, and whenever my devotional time starts to feel dry, I pick up a selection from my little stack, and it's a breath of fresh air. Highly recommend reading the Puritans if you never have - currently I'm reading Contentment, Prosperity, And God's Glory by Jeremiah Burroughs, and I think it would be a great choice for dabbling in Puritan writings, especially as Americans (as we are pretty wealthy compared to much of the world).
A Recommendation
I recommend you try making evaporated milk ice cream. I first came across this concept on a random recipe forum, when a commenter explained a traditional Mexican guava ice cream recipe. You don't need a churn, you don't need any fancy ice cream equipment, and the first time I made it last year I didn't even have guava, so I substituted orange juice concentrate. It turned out so yummy, like an orange creamsicle, and my kids have brought it up so many times since then.
I finally got around to making another batch recently, with raspberries this time, and it was delicious. For a very rough, basic idea of the process, you refrigerate an unopened can of evaporated milk until it is very cold, then you whip it up with a hand mixer, add sugar and some sort of fruit puree, and then freeze it. I can't find the original recipe I used (like I said, it was literally just typed in a comment on a forum I've long forgotten), but I'll try to type up an actual recipe to share soon.
A Bit Of Nature
I have to re-share a couple more wildflower pictures. This was the most glorious bit of nature from our summer!
A Book
I've been reading alot of books that were “just okay” lately, so I don't have any firm recommendations in the book category. I did recently start one called The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay, set in East Germany during the Cold War, and so far it’s promising! I will share a reading round-up at the end of September, so keep any eye out for that to see how it turns out.
A Moment Of Happiness
Autumn is approaching, and as I reflect on our summer, I am all too aware that I have a limited number of free summers left with my kids. Every year I feel pressure to squeeze in as much fun as we can and make alot of memories while we have them, especially in the warmer months.
Unfortunately, prices have gone up for practically everything (if you haven't noticed), and between that and several home appliance repairs, our wallet was feeling a little thin. It was necessary to change my expectations for what kind of summer memories we could make this year, because the memory-making part is not optional.
To save money, we recently changed our idea for a day trip to a mountain town festival and swapped our plans for a more local hike. It turned out to be just beautiful. The day was sunny and unusually warm for the mountains, we walked along a completely deserted trail. We saw so many flowers, we enjoyed a snack under a bristlecone pine, and we made plans to come back soon on a day when we could walk a little farther. On the out, we ran into some horseback riders, and my sweet, social kids had such a sophisticated little conversation with them as they stroked the horses' necks and gave them treats.
It was a whole afternoon of simple, satisfying enjoyment, for only a few bucks of gas. In leaner times, I might have to let go of some of my ideas, but that doesn't mean I have to let go of making good memories with my family. Good memories don't have to cost a thing.
Regardless of the state of your wallets, I hope you too are finding ways to make good memories with your loved ones as we tumble into the fall.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but August is still summer.
Bunches of people online and in my real life have already started the school year, and I'm over here drinking my lemonade in the sunshine and trying not to think about school at all yet. June, July, and August are the months with the warmest weather around here, and it occurred to me the other day that it would be perfectly fine to delay the start of the school year and just finish a little later next May - since May often still brings snowstorms to the mountains anyway. So I'm in no rush to call the summer done yet. I'm not so sure about the kids - if anything is going to push me to bump up our homeschool start date, it's the kids getting bored.
July was actually quite rainy, but as I write this, the plan for this weekend is to attempt porch camping with the kids, a yearly tradition for us. However, when I checked the weather, Sunday night it is supposed to get down to 33 degrees Fahrenheit, which is almost freezing! Not acceptable. We may have to delay the camping plan - another reason I am not anxious to end the summer. We haven't been able to do everything yet! (Update: Since I first typed this up, we did actually porch-camp, and it was actually the hottest week of the summer, definitely not near freezing! Weather forecast reliability never changes.)
We have done alot of the typical summer things over the past month - swimming, park days, the zoo, hiking. Lots of time with friends, including a lovely week with our Kentucky friends when they were in town. My parents celebrated their 40th anniversary, and took us all to Great Wolf Lodge. We may never have ended up going there on our own (it's not cheap, and cheap is the name of the game right now), but it was such a special treat, and I'm glad we could have memories there with extended family!
We also had a lovely 4th of July, and you have to permit me to share a few photos. We spent the day hanging around the house, making the stereotypical flag cake and watching the Sandlot, and then having dinner at my parents' and watching fireworks.
Aside from that, our big outing for July was a trip to a little mountain town that is particularly known for its wildflowers - and it did not disappoint. We had no real plan except for one hiking trail that we wanted to check out. After wandering around the town a little bit and eating our packed lunch, we took to the trail, and I have never seen so many wildflowers in one place in my life. The reputation is well earned! I couldn't stop taking pictures and exclaiming about how beautiful everything was. We counted 21 different varieties of wildflowers! I wish I could show you every picture of my cute kids, and every view, but here are just a few.
I had intended to spend this summer trying out new pie recipes, but instead my domestic pursuits were diverted a bit when a friend from church offered to teach me how to can preserves. So for the last couple weeks I have been researching recipes and food safety rules, obtaining cans and produce, and trying my hand at it. I've made blueberry lime jam, and apple-pie-in-a-jar jam, and mango raspberry jam. It appears that all my cans have sealed just fine, so I guess I did it right! Am I still going to test out the jam before my family and wait 12-36 hours to see if I develop botulism symptoms before they eat it? Probably, but that's just because I have major germaphobe tendencies. I followed all the rules, fruit jam is acidic and botulism doesn't grow in acidic foods, so I actually feel very confident in my jam and accomplished. But you know, just in case.
It doesn't help much that I have been binge-reading Richard Preston's books about the history of the ebola virus. Remember about ten years back when we had a few cases in the United States? I remember being slightly anxious about it since I was still working as a dental hygienist (ie. dealing with alot of bloody gums), and I was pregnant at the time too. Well, let me just say, if I had known more details about the ebola virus, I would have been even more freaked out. I really don't know if there is another virus that is so brutal and gory. My goodness. I'm never visiting the rainforest, and keep monkeys or bats or any tropical creatures far away from me, that's all I'm saying.
My big kids participated in 4H this year, and did woodworking, sewing, and leather working projects. A few of their projects got accepted to be displayed at our state fair, so now we are trying to figure out if we can make the trip in the fall to check it out. I am so proud of them for all their hard work, and thankful for an even more hardworking husband, the unsung hero of our 4H experiences.
Even though I am determined not to cut the summer short, I do also have to start planning the school year soon, so in the next week or two I'm going to sit down and get the year mapped out. Everyone has a different school planning system, but over the last couple years I've developed a bit of a system. It gives me enough structure to keep us on track, but enough flexibility that I don't feel too much pressure. I may work on a post about it soon.
The other big project on which I'd love to make some progress is sorting through pictures and getting them printed and into some albums. This is a never-ending project for me, to be honest. I've printed off little bunches of photos here and there, but I want to do the complete family photo albums from each year, and it's expensive and time-consuming. I'm printing out photos as my budget permits, and 2014 photos just arrived in the mail last week. In the meantime, I am just about to get started on organizing and choosing favorites from the year 2016.
In some ways it is really fun to look through pictures of my kids from all those years ago - my goodness, they were cute. They still are! But seeing their little faces every day is also hard on my heart. Time has gone so fast. It kills me whenever I stop for a moment and reflect that I'll be the parent of a legal adult in less than five years (let that soak in).
I look at the pictures and even though I remember the hard parts of those little years, I also realize that I did soak them up and treasure those times. Sometimes I beat myself up for not treasuring them enough, but I did actually. The way I took so much care to capture all their little features and quirks proves it to me. Still, when it's gone you always wish you held on to the moments just a little bit more. It's never enough - never enough time, never enough time with my precious babies who aren't babies anymore.
I may have had a higher than average number of crying sessions since starting this project. But it's reminding me to soak up this moment we're in right now too. In ten years I'll look back at pictures again, and I'll see how little they were, and I'll remember. Remember how much I loved it all. I can be filled up to the brim with the joy of right now with them. That's all we can ever do, and it doesn't seem like enough, but it also is.
Motherhood is beauty and sadness, joy and pain, love and frustrations and laughing and happiness mixed up with tears. The best thing I'll ever do. And you can't go back, but through every stage until the Lord takes me home I'll have this joy of being their mom, and that will never cease to be a gift.
Okay, now that I've got that sentimentality out of my system, I'll wish you all a happy Monday, and promise to try to be a better blogger now that summer busyness is settling down. But just know that if I'm not here, if I go a couple weeks between blog posts, or if my social media gets stale, I'm not quitting the blog or anything - I'm just not letting them grow up without paying attention.
Somewhere along the path of my journey as a homeschool mom, I realized that my knowledge of church history was seriously lacking. I knew alot of the “big names” of church history, but there were many more I was not familiar with at all. When it comes to understanding the flow of Christianity through history after Jesus’s ascension, I had certain events or time periods as pegs to hang my hat on - the early church period, the Reformation, the Puritans, etc. - but the events, people, and thought in between were a blur.
I’ve been on a personal quest to remedy my spotty knowledge for the last several years, not only for myself, but in order to give my kids a more complete knowledge of the history of the church. I saw Michael Reeves’s book, Theologians You Should Know, on a curriculum list recently, and I decided to request it for review from Crossway.
This book is the history of Christian thought that I didn’t know I needed. Reeves has collected a series of “introductions” to influential theologians through history, “from the Apostolic Fathers to the 21st century”, as the subtitle states.
The theologians covered in this book are as follows:
-The Apostolic Fathers
-Justin Martyr
-Irenaues
-Athanasius
-Augustine
-Anselm
-Thomas Aquinas
-Martin Luther
-John Calvin
-John Owen
-Jonathan Edwards
-Friedrich Scheiermacher
-Karl Barth
-J. I. Packer
I’m familiar with a handful of these theologians, but many of them were only a name to me before reading this book, and there are a couple I hadn’t even heard of at all. All of them greatly contributed to the development of Christian thought - many in good ways, and some not. Reeves divides each chapter into a brief biographical sketch, and then a summary of the theologians thought as expressed in a selection of their works. Though I’m using words like “sketch” and “summary”, don’t let that fool you - this book is very meaty. The concepts explored require deep thinking - as Reeves says:
“Reading the greats should breed modesty, and he who spends time with these giants should recognize what a clod he is.”
That is indeed how I felt, even just after these brief introductions! I am thankful for Reeves’s explanations - they made some of the weightier subjects more approachable. He ends each chapter with suggestions on how to read more about and by each theologian, and I very much appreciated that guidance.
My favorite part of this book was getting a big-picture look at the development of theology over the centuries. It has helped me understand the theological context for different periods of church history in ways I never had before, and different historical events make more sense in light of the theological momentum of the time. There were a few chapters that also made me understand the current theological atmosphere better - one of the names I had never even heard of actually produced ideas that drive alot of our current church culture in America! Having that information helps me better understand where we are now in history.
This is a book I think I would like my kids to read at some point** in our homeschool as well - it fills in alot of historical gaps that I didn’t even realize were there. Reeves said it well:
“In fact, is that not what roots are for? The healthiest trees in a forest are those with the most extensive roots, for it is by using their roots that trees thrive and blossom. If a tree is to grow great, it’s roots must go deep. It is when those roots are cut that they die.”
I want my kids to have deep roots, not only in Christian history, but in Christian theology and doctrine as well. Theologians You Should Know is a great resource for starting to grow those roots, and I find myself encouraged to dig deeper into reading some of these theologians directly.
“Great theologians are usually infinitely more interesting than the things said about them.”
And indeed, that is Reeves’s purpose for this book - he doesn’t want us to be satisfied reading about theologians, but to be emboldened to read the theologians themselves. Armed with the bird’s eye view that this book provides, I plan on doing just that!
Note: I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.
**There are some content notes that I bookmarked for whenever my kids do read this book, just sections I would probably have them skip over or would want to discuss with them - if you would like those notes for a Christian parent, send me a message or email and I’ll send them over!
I am attempting to share mini-reviews quarterly this year, so I give you the second installment of 2024. The following bunch of books are mostly my springtime reads, since June was so crazy that we barely had time to breathe around here. There are a few fiction books scattered throughout, but my springtime reading mostly seems to consist of read-alouds with my kids or Christian non-fiction books. I have dipped a little into summer-style reads in this roundup, but just a little!
The Neighbor’s Secret by L. Alison Heller
This book was one of those suburban mom suspense novels, where a group of mom friends are hiding secrets from each other - I really like this genre for some reason. This one was a bit twisted in the end - one of the character's choices led to the villain's death, but she never faces consequences for it, and secrets from one character's life reveal similar choices that are never brought to justice. I don't like morally ambiguous endings, but overall this book was an interesting listen while I cleaned the house and folded laundry. I'd probably give it 3 stars, and I'm a little stingy with stars anyway. Content Notess: A minor in the story gets drunk; infidelity, etc., is part of the plot; various curse words scattered throughout (not too heavily) including the f-word.
Sound Worship: A Guide To Making Musical Choices In A Noisy World by Scott Aniol
This book was the most thorough and biblical book I've ever read at musical choices and how to honor God through our music. I especially loved the discussion about the definition and purpose of beauty. Highly recommend this short but profound read!
Bad Therapy by Abigail Shirer
I listened to this book on audio, and thought it was so insightful. Shirer talks about the iatrogenic effects of giving "preventative therapy" to people - specifically kids - who don't need it. Treating the well as if they are sick can often cause harm, and that's true of therapy as well. In addition to sharing so much research, Shirer shares common sense observations of how many young people today are being handicapped by unnecessary therapeutic approaches to parenting and other common, average problems. This book gave me a boost of confidence in how I am already parenting my kids - highly recommended for any parent to read. You will either be bolstered in your parenting confidence, or challenged (in a good way).
Mary Jones And Her Bible by Mary Ropes
I read this book to my kids, and I believe it is based on a true story of a girl in Switzerland who so loved God's word that she sacrificed much to obtain her own copy of the Bible. Her love for Scripture inspired the founding of a Bible society that brought God's word to even more people. Though sometimes the main character was presented as a little too perfect, my kids really liked her anyway, and I think this was a lovely book exhibiting a godly attitude toward God's word that resonated with my children.
The Great Alaskan Dinosaur Adventure by Buddy Davis
This book documents an adventure to Alaska to search for dinosaur fossils. It reads like a travel journal, but has alot of interesting information from a biblical worldview about Alaskan terrain, dinosaurs, and Noah's flood. I recommend it for a fun science read-aloud for homeschool!
Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
This is Lewis's retelling of the myth of Psyche, which I highly recommend looking up before starting this book. His twist on it was really interesting because instead of both sisters hating Psyche, one of them, Orual, loves her - but she still guides Psyche into ruin, and in the end realizes her love for Psyche is a twisted thing. The interesting part of this book is how Orual's self-righteousness in bringing an accusation against the "gods" is slowly dismantled. It reminded me of how in order to be saved, we must all realize how our "righteousness" is really just filthy rags to God. In the end, Orual actually brings her accusations to the "gods" but they answer and humble her without saying a word. Really interesting book, and gave me a lot to think about - I feel like I don't fully understand Lewis's point, so I'll be doing a little more research on this story. I find I often have to read books or articles ABOUT Lewis's books to fully understand them.
Kill The Dragon, Get The Girl by Cheston Hervey
This book was recommended by Kirk Cameron as a family read aloud, and I thought we'd give it a try. We listened to the audio, and my kids really ended up enjoying it. However, I wish I had previewed it first since some of the scenes were unnecessarily scary and gory. My kids weren't negatively impacted that I can tell, but I probably wouldn't have let at least my younger kids listen to it if I had previewed it. I'm thinking particularly of a scene underground where monsters materialize out of ash floating in the air, and another scene where a trailer interior is covered with blood and dead bones - creepy. I found the story a bit confusing as some of it seemed to start allegorically (the "dragon" representing Satan), but then the kids actually end up interacting with the dragon and the dragon says things that indicate it IS supposed to be Satan in reality - but then the kids end up killing it, and that doesn't quite make biblical sense. I also didn't like how the kids just run off underground with a pretty weird stranger to kill a dragon - not really a wise choice in the real world. So it was a fun adventure story, but as an adult I thought the plot details ended up muddy, biblically-speaking, and the point of the book was unclear and confusing. My kids found it exciting and wanted to finish the story, so I'll give it 3 stars, but I wouldn't recommend it from an adult perspective.
These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Cooper is living in the woods with his 8 year old daughter Finch. We don't know what brought them to this hidden way of living, but as the book progresses, their way of life is threatened and we learn more about Cooper's past. Finally, a crises emerges, and Cooper must decide between doing the right thing and keeping this life that he has built for himself and his daughter. A surprisingly sweet book that explores self-sacrifice in a really unexpected ending. I highly recommend it! Content Note: Some bad language here and there.
Becoming A Titus 2 Woman by Martha Peace
This book is an encouragement for Christian women to follow the mandate in Titus 2 for the older women to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children, be discreet, chaste, homemakers, and submissive to their own husbands. Alot of those topics are not easy to address with modern women, but Peace gives sound biblical advice in this book. I especially loved her encouragement, if you are a younger woman, to start preparing yourself now to take on the role of an older woman someday. I already wrote down so many of the verses she shared in order to work on memorizing them, and I will be reading this book again!
Let The Little Children Come by Scott Aniol
This is a book I've been working on for a while, and after setting it aside for several months, I finally picked it up again in April. Aniol makes an argument for keeping children in the church service with their parents, and viewing children as an important part of the church body. I appreciated reading this argument from a credobaptist, since I think alot of the people who advocate keeping children with their parents for the service are often pedobaptists (which I'm not). Aniol gives biblical encouragement and practical advice, as well as a wealth of resources for establishing family worship during the week. I found it highly encouraging as someone who already keeps my children in the church service and tries (along with my husband) to make sure we do "Bible time" during the week. If you have ever felt weird about the "children's church" model that is so common in churches these days, I highly recommend this book for a paradigm shift!
Strange Lyre: The Pentecostalization Of Evangelical Worship by David de Bruyn
The author gives the historical context for our modern style of "worship" in church - which for many people, just means the emotional high produced by the music. This book presents the case that our modern style of worship services does not follow historical or biblical precedent, but was radically altered after the Pentecostal movement in the early 1900s. Many more traditional churches have adopted Pentecostal worship practices even while claiming to reject Pentecostal theology. Unfortunately, content often follows form, and many churches are led into weakened doctrine because they first compromised on music. If you've ever thought that the "worship wars" don't matter, this book will probably cure you of that. Very well done, a short read that packs a punch, and I'd recommend it.
Evangellyfish by Douglas Wilson
This was a satirical novel, critiquing problems within the modern church. I found it entertaining, and also a little painful to read. I guarantee you've met some of the characters in this book in your local church. Even though the ending was realistic in a not-very-encouraging way, Wilson still includes notes of hope in the end. I'd recommend it as thought-provoking, well done Christian satire! Content Note: The entire plot revolves around a megachurch pastor’s infidelity, and other character’s moral failings in this area are discussed as well, so keep that in mind.
The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda
I generally like Megan Miranda's suspense novels - there is a decent amount of cursing, but other than that they are enjoyable page-turners. In this one, a group of teenagers survive a horrific crash on a class trip, and vow to meet every year at a North Carolina beach house on the anniversary - even though most of them would rather not. Secrets start to come to light, and one of their number starts to figure out what truly happened that night so long ago - it's not all as it seemed. This one was an especially engrossing book for me and kept me guessing until the very end! Content Notes:Some fornication and drug use is referred to, moderate amount of cursing.
The Last To Vanish by Megan Miranda
Abigail works at an inn near the Appalachian trail - which is also one of the last locations where several missing hikers have been seen over the years. The entire town has gained infamy from the disappearances, and the locals may know more than they let on - including Abigail. This was a really interesting read, and the ending once again surprised me. Miranda's novels often have a morally ambiguous ending, which I don't appreciate. The ending of this one was less twisted than some of her novels, and I enjoyed it overall! Content Notes: Some fornication is referred to, some cursing.
Jane Of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery
I've enjoyed working through some of Montgomery's lesser-known works through the years. This one was a slower read, but the ending was lovely, and I quite enjoyed it. Jane starts out as an odd, closed-off girl, living with her mother under the thumb of her bitter grandmother. That is, until one day a letter from her long-lost father shows up, insisting that Jane spend the summer with him on Prince Edward Island. They purchase a home on Lantern Hill, and Jane flourishes as she takes on the role of homemaker for their little cottage. This is a very homey book, and will probably make you want to bake some pies. I'd recommend it. Content Notes: I've noticed as I've read more of Montgomery's books that she'll make casual references to witchcraft, usually in context of teasing or in a descriptive phrase from some eccentric character - witchcraft is never in the story, but I think it's something for Christian parents to be aware of.
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
I decided to try to read some Newberry Winners this summer, and this was the winner from the year 2000. This book is set during the Great Depression - Mary Alice (16 years old) is sent to live with her grandmother in Illinois while her parents find a better living situation. Her grandmother is an eccentric, somewhat terrifying woman to Mary Alice, but over the course of the year she comes to see what a big heart her grandmother has. I quite enjoyed the character development in this book, and the ending was very heartwarming. Grandma isn't always honest, but her intentions are good. Content Notes: There is some dishonesty and stealing in different parts of the book - Grandma's morals aren't to be copied, but her concern for others is a better attribute you could point kids to. There is one chapter where an artist convinces one of the local women to pose nude for him in Grandma's attic, unbeknownst to her, and the woman is caught and ends up streaking back to her house - I guess it's a funny scene, but may not be a mental picture you want your kids to have.
Theologians You Should Know by Michael Reeves
I received this book as part of Crossway’s blogger program, and it was excellent! Extended review is coming soon!
I tend to enjoy reading suspense in the summer, so I’m sure my next bunch of books will be full of suspense recommendations!
What genre do you enjoy reading most in the summer?
(This is not a photo from the homeschool conference - just two of my kids on a recent hike.)
Last week my family and I attended our state homeschool conference. Every year I learn something new, find great curriculum deals, discover curriculum that is new to me, and leave encouraged.
I’ve written before about why you should attend a homeschool conference if you get a chance. I think I may do another version of that article someday about why you should attend a Christian homeschool conference, even if you don’thomeschool. If a homeschool conference is a good one, at least half of the sessions would be uplifting to any Christian family, and I love that about our local conference. The focus is on raising our children and discipling them, and then also practical/academic tips - but the meat of it is a biblical philosophy on child-rearing that would benefit any Christian parent.
I received a conference-recap email from one of the many homeschool blogs I follow, and I really enjoyed it and was inspired to share a few takeaways from the conference we attended (including some interesting curriculum finds).
My Main Takeaway
A big theme of our conference this year was passing on the faith to our children. If you are not aware, the statistics on youth leaving the church in Protestant denominations in the United States are very grim. A full 70% of Christian youth leave the church, and these statistics haven’t improved in years - if anything, the situation has worsened. There were a couple different lectures about this topic (from Israel Wayne and George Barna), and though I only attended Wayne’s talk, from what I can tell the bottom line was the same - taking your children to church every week isn’t enough. Sending them to a Christian private school isn’t enough. Even homeschooling isn’t enough!
Kids need to have a good relationship with their parents, and they need to be trained by their parents. No one has as big of an impact on the faith of children as their parents do. Children need to know the tenants of their faith, see it being put into practice by their parents, and receive focused teaching about biblical doctrines (the truths of the faith) and a biblical worldview (how those truths should affect the way they see they world and the way they live).
You obviously can’t pass on that kind of knowledge and faith if you don’t have it yourself! Alot of Christians think we have a biblical worldview, and we don't realize that in many cases, we actually don’t. Wayne shared the PEERS test, which is a biblical worldview test - he said that though he quibbled with the phrasing of a few of the questions, it’s not a difficult test. The statistics among different groups of students who have taken this test are very interesting (and scary, honestly).
(This is a graph from the Nehemiah Institute website, the organization that produced the PEERS test. That blue line represents a TINY number of Christian private schools that have a high focus on biblical worldview training, as opposed to those that focus on academics - only about 2% of Christian kids are in those types of schools. The green line represents homeschoolers, who only started being included later. Honestly, I think we homeschoolers could do better. The traditional Christian private schools and public school lines should be sobering. Keep in mind that all of these lines represent ONLY youth from Christian households.)
The benefit of homeschooling as it relates to all this can be summed up in one word - time. Parents have the biggest influence on their kids, but that influence can be diluted by a lack of time spent with our kids. Homeschool parents have an advantage because we are not lacking for time - we are with our children nearly all day, every day!
Homeschool children (should) have an up-close look at what a Christian life should look like, because they see it playing out in every situation we encounter daily. Scripture tells us that “everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). That’s a little sobering, isn’t it? It means as homeschool parents we need to be careful that we ourselves are living out a truly biblical worldview. Our strengths in this area will likely be passed on to our kids, but also our weaknesses.
Time is also a crucial ingredient for building any strong relationship, including with our children, and having strong relationships with both parents provides a distinct statistical advantage in passing on the faith to our children.
(This chart is from the Gen2 survey, which is a general survey of churched Millennials and the impact of their upbringing on their practicing of the Christian faith as an adult. You can look at all the findings from that survey here. They are up-front about the fact that more people who were previously homeschooled took the survey than those schooled in other ways, despite trying to specifically advertise to those who went to public or private school. Despite the sample being a little uneven, it’s still pretty interesting.)
Homeschoolers, we have alot of things working for us! The trick is not to squander all these advantages, which can certainly happen. This whole discussion was simultaneously heartening and challenging to me.
For Further Reading
Though the website is a little old-school, I recommend exploring the Nehemiah Institute - they are the organization that produced the PEERS worldview test, and they have alot of interesting documents and resources.
For more information specifically on the exit of youth from the church and what we might do about it, I highly recommend the books Already Compromised and Already Gone by Ken Ham.
Israel Wayne has a couple helpful books about parenting and education that I’d recommend: Raising Them Up and Education: Does God Have An Opinions? (don’t be put off by the title, it’s a great book - I even had my oldest read the chapter on math, and it greatly improved his attitude!). He also has a systematic theology and biblical worldview curriculum for middle and high school that we picked up for our 8th grader this year.
George Barna also has a new book related to this topic, and I haven’t read it yet, but I might pick it up: Raising Spiritual Champions.
Other Interesting Sessions
“Why Americans Can’t Read” - Alex Newman - It’s shocking how illiterate we have become in America - half of American adults are functionally illiterate, and those statistics are coming from the Department of Education itself. I couldn’t find an article from Newman related to this topic that wasn’t behind a paywall, but the answer to this problem comes down to one thing - we need to ditch the “whole word” method and go back to actually teaching phonics.
“The Problem With School Choice” - Alex Newman - There are alot of unintended consequences with allowing the government to fund ALL school choices via vouchers and other forms of funding, which is a big push in many states right now. You can read this document if you are interested, which includes alot of the information Newman shared in this talk.
“Help! The Highschool Years Are Coming!” - Jan and Roger Smith - This session included so much encouragement for the high school years! I couldn’t find any articles about this specific topic online, but you can hear from the speakers on Zan Tyler’s podcast.
“Is Homeschooling Just For Women? - Israel Wayne - My husband went to this session and came back inspired and challenged in his role as a Christian (and homeschool) dad! I’d personally recommend anything by Israel Wayne, I’ve been encouraged by his resources many times. You can check out his ministry here.
Interesting Curriculum
Homeschool In A Box - I didn’t get to explore this booth much, but this company is on my list to research - their booth had a bunch of themed, hands-on learning boxes that I think my kids would find so fun!
Homestead Science - This is a family-run homeschool company from Idaho, and I am particularly interested in their survival study, which seems right up our alley.
Math Without Borders - We spent a good amount of time talking with the man who owns this company about this high school math option - it’s on my list to research for next year! But I wanted to point out “The Grandpa Project” on his website, which includes a bunch of videos he put together for his elementary and middle-school grandchildren to learn more about math - and this page in particular is the best math facts flashcard system I’ve ever seen online. All this is free on the website, and we’ll definitely be using it this summer! He also has a “bonus topics” page with a bunch of fun math videos that we’re going to explore.
New Generations Resources - Generations is a curriculum company we’ve been exploring for history mainly, but my little girls have also been enjoying their science books - they have this new science curriculum coming out for 3rd grade about the human body that I’m considering getting! They also released this adorable catechism book for the littlest learners - I really love that all the answers to these catechism questions are an actual Bible verse.
There are so many other interesting tidbits I could share, but I’ll leave it there! I would love to hear if you’re ever been to a homeschool conference, how it was helpful for you, or your thoughts about any of the topics or resources I shared here! Comment below, or hit reply if you are receiving this in your inbox.
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