Anna Sofia Botkin's Blog, page 12

Am I wasting my life?

Question: Can you give me some advice on how to use my time wisely? I’m doing lots of things, but I’m not feeling very satisfied with any of them. I feel awfully random and that I would like to do more with my life, but there seem to be no opportunities. How do you both determine how to best spend your time, and prioritize?

You have well summarized the feelings of many young people of our generation. We have seen this malaise strike many young people reaching the threshold of adulthood — an incre

Katie Valenti Gets Married

Many of our readers will remember Katie Valenti from Return of the Daughters. We have heard over and over how blessed and inspired families were by the testimony of Katie and the whole Valenti family, and knew our readers would rejoice to hear that Katie has just been united in holy matrimony with Phillip Bradrick.

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Take a moment to watch this touching clip from Return of the Daughters, where Mr. Valenti spoke of treasuring his remaining years with his eldest daughter before he would give her in m

Crossroads 09 — Conference Recap

Our family is praising the Lord for a wonderful “Christians at the Crossroads” conference. 700 people came from around the country — some from as far away as Washington state and the Bronx — to join us for this symposium on family relationships in tumultuous times.

Conference HQ was the Historic Columbus Ironworks, the Confederates’ largest manufacturer of naval machinery.

One cannon still held at the Ironworks was named the “Ladies’ Defender,” cast from brass collected by the city’s women.

The mo

Chalcedon reviews “Return of the Daughters”

For years our family has been very grateful for the work of The Chalcedon Foundation, and their bold, uncompromising teachings on systematic theology and biblical law. As young teenagers studying out the ideas that would eventually take the shape of a book and then a documentary, we were profoundly affected and challenged by books such as R.J. Rushdoony’s Institutes of Biblical Law (which we encourage every girl to read).

We were extremely honored to see that Chalcedon columnist Andrea Schwartz j

Visionary Daughters Interviewed - Final Installment

Here is part three of a recent interview a journalist conducted with us.

Interviewer: Tell me about your book: whose idea was it? What are you hoping to accomplish with it? How has it been received?

A&E: We got the idea for writing our book when we were aged 15 and 17. We were nearing adulthood, and faced with the question of “What next?” Who did we want to become? What did we want to live and die for? Our friends seemed to be living on auto-pilot, defaulting to the same decisions all the other g

Childish Homeschooler Syndrome, Part Two

Is growing up in a Christian home an advantage to us, or a disadvantage?

We pointed out in our last article that children from Christian homes are beneficiaries of many advantages. The danger is when we let this privileged life make us spoiled rotten. In other words, instead of using our advantages humbly, gratefully, and diligently, we can let them make us lazy, proud and selfish.

This is the danger that always faces the second generation. After inheriting the fruit of our parents’ labors,

Visionary Daughters Interviewed: 2nd Installment

Interviewer: In your opinion and through your study and experience, what is a woman’s role in life?

A&E: A woman’s role is to honor and serve God, in the sphere He created her for. The Bible tells us that woman was created from the man and for the man (1 Cor. 11:9) to be a helper to him in his mission (Gen. 2:18). (Note: not to be his slave or property.) This is what God created woman for, and is the true essence of femininity: to complement and complete man, to be at his side in taking domini

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Show Your Support for Manly Men!

In a world where real manliness is stigmatized and real men are scarce, we occasionally encounter anomalies like Matt Chancey. We’ve known Matt since we were little girls and he was a remarkable young newlywed (with an amazing young bride), and each passing year has only given us more respect for him and his manly Christian example.

Today is our opportunity to show our support for the kind of godly man the world needs more of. The “Art of Manliness” website is about to name the Manliest Man of th

Visionary Daughters Interviewed — 1st Installment

Here are a few questions a journalist recently posed to us, with our answers.

Interviewer: When and how did you start your blog? What role did you think you needed to fill with it, what purpose does it serve?

A&E: We began “Visionary Daughters” three years ago, upon finishing our book So Much More, as a way to inspire and encourage other young women to think and live biblically. We want to see young women break free from the smothering expectations of society, to be visionary, to think outside t