I recently reviewed a Bible that was published with the homeschooling mom in mind.
Zondervan has partnered with Alpha Omega Publications to bring you the NIV and KJV of the Homeschool Mom’s Bible that is filled with 365 daily devotionals written just for the homeschooling mom. Both versions are available on the publisher’s website for $34.99. For this review, I received the NIV of the Homeschool Mom’s Bible.
The Homeschool Mom’s Bible starts off with a Foreword written by Vickie Farris, wife of HSLDA founder, Dr. Michael Farris, that is filled with empathic words of encouragement on how important it is, as homeschooling moms, to spend time in God’s Word. The following page tells the reader a little bit of information about Alpha Omega Publications (AOP) and the author of the devotionals, Janet Tatman. Janet is a homeschooling veteran with 25 years of experience under her belt.
The devotionals that are spread throughout the Bible were taken from Janet’s Daily Focus daily devotional emails that she wrote while working for AOP, and are now also available in a devotional book and an ebook, as well as the Homeschool Mom’s Bible. The devotionals appear about every few pages in the Bible and have the date at the top right corner and then at the bottom right corner you will find the page to go to to find the next devotional. Each devotional has a creative title, a scripture reference at the beginning and then a short prayer at the end.
When I received the Homeschool Mom’s Bible, I immediately fell in love with the cover. Isn’t it pretty? I just adore the flowers and the colors. I used this Bible for my daily Bible reading before I went to bed each night and read a devotional each night as well. I had been planning on reading through the Gospel, so when I got my new Bible I decided I would start reading from it with the book of Matthew, and as I would come upon a devotional, I would read that devotional. Well, the first devotional I came to was for October 13th and it was the beginning of September. You see, I’m the kind of person that has to read the devotional on the date that it was written for, so that wasn’t working out for me. So, I continued to read the book of Matthew and decided that I would just flip to the devotional that corresponded to the actual date that it was. Since I was doing a lot of flipping back and forth, I really wish that Zondervan would have included one (or two) of those ribbon bookmarks that are attached to the spine; that would have come in really handy for me.
I really enjoy the NIV of the Bible because it is easy to read and has a nice flow to it, allowing me to read it quicker than some other versions. I also found that Janet’s devotionals were easy to read and just the right length (about a page each). Many of the topics that she wrote about spoke directly to me and often would be issues I was currently dealing with. God has a way of putting what we need to read right in front of us at just the right time; He’s pretty awesome! Some of the things Janet touches upon in her devotionals are:
- Not allowing our children or homeschooling to become our idols
- Pressing on even when we don’t want to get out of bed in the morning
- Giving God control and seeking His guidance in your homeschool
- Realizing that homeschooling is also a learming experience for mom
- The importance of teaching God’s Truth to our children
- Demonstrating God’s love to our family, as well as others
Overall, I was very happy with the Homeschooling Mom’s Bible – I could relate to many of the devotionals and they were often the encouragement and inspiration I needed for my day.
