I have read all of the Clarkson family's books. . .Clay's, Sally's, and Sarah's. I have been to multiple mom's conferences both in Colorado and Texas and have heard them speak. I have attended their seminars at homeschooling conferences. I subscribe to their newsletter and read their blogs. So, when I saw that Sally was publishing yet another book I wasn't particularly enthused, not because I don't adore the message of the Clarkson family, but because I thought, "I've heard all the stories and I know their party line, what could this book possibly be but the same message and anecdotes with a new cover?" Honestly, I didn't even plan to buy it, but a friend of mine surprised me by sending me a copy, so of course I had to actually READ it right away.
Was I right in my pre-judgement? Yes, and no.
If you have never read the Clarksons, then this book will fly you over their primary messages, so in that regard I was correct. The book has chapters that are Cliff's Notes versions of some of their full-length books (or series) on the chapters' topics at hand and I would urge you to read those books if the chapters even remotely whetted your appetites. (Seasons of a Mother's Heart is the book I have given as a gift more often than any other book, always to rave reviews from the recipients; second to this is The Mission of Motherhood and Heartfelt Discipline, a book that has gotten less press, but is very poignant.)
For the "No" side of this answer, the anecdotes are fresh and raw and so REAL. I was hungry to peek into Sally's life and struggles and find my own similar struggles there. Also, she covers materials that I have hardly ever known her to touch on (marriage struggles, end of life issues), but that are more important to me as I, too, age. So, much of the book was a revelation for even old-hands like myself.
I am 44 years old, have homeschooled for 18 years, and now have my first grandchild and I have felt like every step of my life since I decided to leave law school to bring my then only-child to Kindergarten at home has been like that of an explorer hacking through the jungle with a machete. Titus 2 women were not clamoring to my side, begging to mentor me in biblical home discipleship. I was either utterly on my own and clueless, or bombarded by church ladies and gents telling me that I was wrong, wrong, a thousand times wrong about my choices to be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mama. I had "formula books" rammed at me and was severely rebuked when following the formulas contained within (God's way, of course!) weren't "working." Guilt. Shame. Blame. Loneliness. Fear.
I had one woman with children just a few years older than my own who was one step ahead of me on this homeschooling journey turn around, reach out to me, and show me the steps she'd taken to ease MY way forward. The few years we lived in the same town with her built me up tremendously. In 18 years ONE woman at church looked on me with compassion as she was herself crawling out of the other side of the Slough of Despond. ONE!
The older women in the church were feminists, career women, successful in worldly ambitions and pursuits and goods and too quick to condemn anybody doing anything different from the way THEY had done it. There WERE no Titus 2 women to be found, which is why Sally is so important to me and an entire generation of mothers. Her books, seminars, blog posts and newsletters are as folksy, and as personal as a "mass media" mentorship could possibly be and in the absence of one-on-one, face-to-face discipleship, the very best a distraught and lonely mama could have to encourage her to mop up one more mess and read one more bedtime story. More than anyone else, Sally got me through--is still getting me through, now that you mention it--I am still homeschooling my two youngest children.
I spent a few months last year caring for my dying mother in Oklahoma and was with her when she died. The night I returned to Colorado after delivering her eulogy in Texas, I rushed to be present for the home-birth of my first grandchild. This began a new season in my life. The bitter heartbreak of death and the thrilling hope of new life all in a day. It wasn't my first funeral or eulogy: besides various loved ones I have buried two of my own children. It certainly wasn't my first birth; I have had the privilege of being present for many babies making their debuts. Yet, burying my own mother and watching my granddaughter take her first breath with me as the middle-woman in this generational story, made me certain that I urgently needed to OWN MY LIFE.
And this is how Sally's book ends; with an urgent plea to make your life count for time and eternity, whether you fill stadiums for gospel rallies, or whether you are a godly grandmother whose biggest evangelistic "rally" is playing marbles with the neighborhood children and making them cookies and telling them stories about Jesus. . .take responsibility for ever moment and actively LIVE!