Homeschool Bravely {Review}

Do you ever struggle with mom guilt?  That disabling feeling that you're screwing it all up?  What about homeschooling mom guilt?  Wondering if you're not only screwing up your kids, but also sending them off track academically?  Raising my hand HIGH over here!  Homeschool Mom Guilt is the real deal and can throw a mom into a tailspin if she's not careful.

Enter Jamie Erickson's new book, Homeschool Bravely.  This book was unlike anything I expected.  Picking it up, I expected more of a how to style book as is typical of the market.  What I wasn't expecting was the address of the heart that Erickson delivers.  Speaking directly to the core of the issue, Homeschool Bravely addresses the fears head on, encouraging the reader that the Lord is well aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and has called them to homeschool for such a time as this.  Easily the most encouraging read that I've had the privilege of reviewing, my copy of Homeschool Bravely has a multitude of notes and highlights, and has completely changed my view on my homeschool.

These are just a few of my favorite quotes:

"Sometimes the crossed-arms of resistance are the quiet pleas of a child who just wants to be heard- to feel like a portion of his school day is within his control."

"What you don't know, or perhaps what you need to be reminded of, is that a 'struggle' shows that you are doing something right.  Struggle is a verb.  It implies action; effort; giving it all you've got."

"In his kindness to me, God's shown me that in trying to do everything perfectly, I end up doing a lot of things with mediocrity... Again and again, His kindness has helped me see how and when I've made parenting and teaching harder than it needs to be."  

"If you're being pushed around by fear, you're not listening to the Voice that really matters."

"You can drape yourselves in the tattered cloak of the perceived judgment of others and trudge around in it all the livelong day, wrestling for shreds of approval from everyone else.  Or you can homeschool like you know you are already pre-approved by the One who called you to do it.  The choice is yours."

Erickson's words were the refreshing drink that I didn't even realize that my heart needed. Again and again, she comes back to the idea that our homeschool's success if based on more than our human abilities, and rests in the trust and ability of the Lord.  To be reminded that I'm not standing alone, but rather with the One that knows and loves my children even more than I do.  And that makes our homeschool more than enough.  If you could purchase one homeschooling book, let Homeschool Bravely be that one.  

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.