(UPDATE 10/17/18 SEE BELOW)

Woohoo! My newest book is out  🙂

There’s nothing like the feel of a fresh new book, right fellow book lovers? And I’ve got to tell you that seeing my name on it and knowing that it’s the result of a couple of years’ worth of work is a good feeling!

Hot off the press: Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens with Mother-Daughter Discussion Starters, a book I wrote six years ago for our daughter Mary, who was 13 at the time.

We’d been using Rod and Staff’s Bible curriculum, which we both liked, but our girl was growing up and it was time for something different. I thought about just buying a Bible study and using it with her, but before I even had a chance to go shopping, it occurred to me that I could write my own. Having been part of an awesome weekly Bible study at my church for the previous 12 years, I was accustomed to going through every detail of a Bible story, then discussing it with others in the class. I thought that might be fun for Mary and me to do at home.

So I started out with Eve’s story in the book of Genesis. I wrote up questions as I read through the biblical account and kept track of the answers in a separate document. As I went along, different thoughts would occur to me, like “How awful would it be to live happily in the garden with God and then have to leave because of your sin?” I wrote down those thoughts, planning to save them to discuss them with Mary after she’d finished reading the story and answering detailed questions about it.

Those thoughts became the basis for some great discussions between us. As I continued to work through the Old Testament stories about women, I kept a list of those thoughts and questions. Some were so current, such as what it must have been like for Hannah to suffer from infertility. How many people today have dealt with the pain of infertility? It’s still a painful topic for many women. Mary and I were able to discuss this together, with her asking questions and me adding insight that came from having a relative who went through it.

So we fell into a pattern. I tried to keep about a week ahead of Mary, handing her assignments as I wrote them. (That wasn’t always easy but it kept me from bogging down in the project, that’s for sure.) Then we’d have these interesting conversations, where I often found myself illustrating the concepts by mentioning something I’d gone through in my own life, or as in the case of infertility, someone I knew or was related to had gone through in their life.

Mary asked some great questions! We sure touched on a variety of subjects whenever we had the discussion portion of our Bible study. We soon began looking forward to “our time” whenever she finished a unit.

When she finished the entire study, we were both kind of sad that it was over. I told her I’d try to write another study, this time about women in the New Testament, for the coming school year.

But life intervened: over the next few years our son graduated from college and got married, we had to sell our house (spent almost a year on the market—ugh) and we moved, then we moved again a few years later. And of course during that time our Mary grew up and finished homeschooling.

But I hadn’t forgotten the Old Testament study and how much we’d enjoyed it, so once we were settled here I decided that I should edit it and publish it sometime. My husband encouraged me to do it sooner rather than later, so back in January when I finally buckled down to daily writing again, I started editing it.

Originally I’d included some short essay questions for Mary to answer for each Bible story. Now I reread her answers to those questions, and it was so cool to see how much she’d grown since then (especially spiritually). Just seeing what she wrote in that young teenage scrawl of hers tickled me. That workbook is a keepsake now; it’s almost like a journal that she kept.

Like any project, publishing this Bible study took longer than I thought. Mary’s copy is a simple Word document, printed out and put in a notebook. The published version is how I wish I could have done it for her, with a feminine design, lots of flowers and a splash of pink. My husband, the artistic and tech-savvy half of our marriage, did a great job of figuring out what I wanted and putting it together. Thank you, dear!  🙂

So off I go to put a great big check mark by “Mother-Daughter Bible Study” on my list of things to do. Meanwhile, here’s the official description:

Just published! “Women of the Old Testament, 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens (With Mother-Daughter Discussion Starters)”

This new one-year Bible curriculum for teens age 13 and up is designed for the homeschool mom and her daughter(s) and was written by veteran homeschool mom Barbara Frank for her daughter.

It examines the stories of Old Testament women like Eve, Ruth and Esther and helps teens relate those stories to their own and their mothers’ lives:

* Detailed questions help students read stories carefully.

* Short essay questions measure students’ comprehension.

* Mother-daughter discussion starters examine themes in light of a mother’s life experiences, promoting mother-daughter closeness and understanding.

* The modern, feminine design of this workbook gives it a “journal” feel.

This book is arranged in an assignment format, and can be completed in one school year of daily work. The answer key is included for ease of correcting, with specific Bible references for every answer.

Most of the book is ideal for independent study; the Mother-Daughter Discussion Starters at the end of each section promote closeness and understanding between teens and their mothers, making this study unique.

Learning about Old Testament women together will make this your daughter’s favorite Bible study….and yours, too!

Now available at CardamomPublishers.com, Amazon.com and many other booksellers.

ISBN 978-0-9742181-5-1

Download a free unit from the book HERE.

UPDATE 10/17/18

I loved writing this book! It’s hard to believe that my daughter, the girl I wrote it for, is now a mama of two. We made so many good memories while working on this Bible study.  🙂  You can buy it from any bookseller, or directly from us HERE.