I Saw The Angel in the Marble

This book is a collection of essays by The Elijah Company, most of them by Chris and Ellyn Davis.  The title is based on a quote by Michelangelo: "I saw the angel in the marble, and I carved until I set him free."  I have had this book on my wishlist for over a year, so was happy to receive it as a Christmas gift.
The main thought throughout this book is that God has created our children in a specific way, for His specific purpose and it is our job as parents to "set them free".  We do this through discipleship and this book deals specifically with how homeschooling fits into His plan.  We are encouraged to put academics in its place.  Before we do anything in our day, we need to focus on relationships (first to God, then to each other), then responsibilities (chores, life skills, etc.) and talents (areas of gifting).  THEN, academics come in.  They are not saying that academics are not important, but that they are not the *main* thing.
I think this is a great reminder to homeschoolers and to me specifically because we feel the pressure to get "through the curriculum".  But, in so doing, it can be easy to skip God (thinking, we'll get to Bible readings later, after math, but then it doesn't happen) and skip our relationships with each other ("do those math problems or else!" instead of first dealing with our hearts and the strain on our relationship.)  We also don't want to raise students who are merely intellectual but have no idea how to survive in the world (life skills, responsibilities).
This is really first about our hearts.  And second about not being so tied to a curriculum, but instead be seeking God and looking for His plan for their lives.  If we notice one child has no interest in math, we don't skip over math, but we also don't make it the focus of his academic career.  A child who is obviously gifted in writing should have time to cultivate this gift.  We can look to what interests our children as well as where we see them excelling to get a glimpse of what God may be preparing them for as adults.  The only drawback to this is that *sometimes* God chooses to use us in ways that are not easy for us (Moses comes to mind).  I think the key is to be abide in Christ and listen to His leading.
Other ideas I gleaned from reading this book are:

• The importance of Dad being involved in our homeschool.  This is especially important as we have sons who will need his discipline and instruction.
• Teenagers are at the place in life where they are seeking an identity, and our job as parents is to *speak* their identity to them.  "You are so good at piano."  "I can see God is working on your heart in the area of..." 
• If there is an area of tension in my home/homeschool, I should stop and take some time to think through some solutions.  This sounds obvious, but in the busyness of being a wife, mom, homemaker, teacher, etc. I can settle into being content or apathetic (lazy) with an area of disorder that I could do something about. 

Some good quotes:
"We do not want our children to be taught to think and act according to society's concept of the ideal man.  Why?  Because our ideal man is not a politically correct, self-actualized wage-earner, He is Jesus Christ."  (pg 7-8)

"It was quite a shock to realize that it isn't the ungodliness in the world that threatens our children, it is the ungodliness in us!" (pg 26)

""What if we see [education] as part of the "equipping of the saints...for the work of service?""  (pg. 39)

Action points:
This book was just what I needed as we started school back up in January after taking off for Christmas.  It was a reminder of where to put my priorities.  I love curriculum - oh, how I love it!  I love researching and engaging with others about what they use for the different subjects.  But for me, personally, I was convicted to *stop* the curriculum search.  To pray about everything first.  And then to use what is works for *our* unique family - not someone else's.  For us, I think that means switching over to Ambleside Online, which would be consistent with Charlotte Mason's principles of education (I adore!).  This is in place of what we do now, which I love, but takes a lot of time to pick and choose what (living) book would work for each course.  I know the advisory at AO has worked very diligently in choosing the best books for each level.  And if we try one and it doesn't work for us, *then* I can switch.  I need to replace my energy from planning academics to looking at my children as whole - to consistently put God first, relationships second, and then responsiblities and talents before academics.  The nice thing about AO is that it doesn't take a ton of time each day, which allows for time for these other, important pursuits.  Also, it is very strong academically, so I know my children will get a wonderful education.  I also am saying this with the caveat that God can change those plans at any time.  If He leads us to throw out AO, we will need to obey.

Note to self: this is a good book to reread perhaps next winter.  Also, it had good insights into the teen years, so refer to it again when my kids are older.