The Homeschool Mom's Bible first caught my eye a few months ago in a local Christian bookstore catalogue. Since my old Bible has been repaired & repaired again until parts are unreadable, I had decided to request a new Bible for my upcoming Birthday. This Bible was the one I had chosen. There is something very special about a product just for mothers who have undertaken the prodigious task of homeschooling their precious children! You can imagine my excitement then when the Homeschool Mom's Bible (NIV) by Zondervan came up for review. I eagerly put in my application. It arrived shortly before my birthday & I am so thankful to have a new Bible that isn't falling to pieces and is especially relevant for my particular role in life!
Zondervan's Homeschool Mom's Bible is a complete Bible which includes 365 daily studies written by veteran homeschooling mother Janet Tatman especially for other homeschooling mothers. The Studies are dated to follow along throughout the year and I love the fact that other friends who have purchased this Bible are doing the same study I am on the same day! The Homeschool Mom's Bible opens with a forward by Vickie Farris who is the wife of HSLDA Founder Dr Michael Farris & also a homeschooling mother of 10.
There is a very informative preface included which describes the necessity of the new changes included in this version of the NIV Bible. I particularly was interested in this as I have grown up using NIV, but it's often disconcerting finding changes within the text of passages that I know by heart. Both the Old & New Testament follow this preface in their entirety. A table of weight & measure, a topical index of the studies & then blank pages provided especially for your own notes complete the Bible.
The special feature of this particular Bible is the encouraging devotions dispersed throughout the pages. Each devotion commences with a relevant scripture. It then follows with a short passage that is specifically written to challenge & encourage homeschooling mothers. I found these to be well written & balanced. The studies do not push the authors personal agenda, but instead use God's Word as a base & build on that to provide a quick & often challenging look at the particular scripture passage. Each study concludes with a short, yet meaningful prayer.
I received a hard-cover, NIV Homeschool Mom's Bible with a dust jacket . I used the Homeschool Mom's Bible as my personal Bible throughout the review period & will continue to do so. As mentioned earlier I was slightly hesitant with the new translation changes of the NIV, but after reading the preface I understand why these were made. The changes I came across did not in any way change the intended meaning of the text. I loved the short studies by Janet Tatman. She is a lady full of wisdom & I look forward to many years of following along with these studies. I do however caution you that these will not provide a lot of Bible study, so I encourage you to complete your own Bible reading along with the study (as I do with any Bible study you are completing). God's Word is a living Word & no matter how many times you read it, you will find something new to encourage & challenge you. I try to read a chapter each day & take relevant notes. These short studies included in the Homeschool Mom's Bible were helpful, providing a small, but significant part of my devotion studies & were especially useful for those days when I was busy & only had a few minutes of daily devotional time.
I found the text to be easily read & followed along with during family devotions & church services. References were quickly & easily turned to, although I look forward to the pages having a more 'worn' feel to them. As with any NIV Bible, the text is broken into sections & each are provided with a heading which gives you the main topic of the following section. These are done to aid the reader in locating particular passages & I have always found these useful. Numerous references are provided at the bottom of the pages such as Bible passages referred or various interpretations of particular words.
The Homeschool Mom's Bible is available from Zondervan in both NIV & KJV with a hard-cover (as I received) for $34.99 (US$) or leather-bound for $49.99(US$) ( although this currently it has a $2 discount). On the back is noted that: Every NIV Bible purchased helps Biblica translate & give Bibles to people in need around the world!
This Bible has been such a blessing to my life & I am so thankful to have been able to have this opportunity to review it!
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