Elizabeth Botkin's Blog, page 2

Announcing a new edition of It’s (Not That) Complicated, plus audiobook and eBook formats

Friends, we’re happy to announce a new edition of It’s (Not That) Complicated, featuring over 20 pages of new content. For those of you who already bought the first edition of the book and don’t want to buy a new copy, we’ll be sharing most of the new content with you for free here over the next few weeks.* We’re also, at long last, releasing it in audiobook format, read by both of yours truly. You can buy it here and hear a sample here. If you’d prefer to get it in eBook format, we also provide it in a … Read more →

What Every Christian Girl Can Learn From Kate

The fashion leadership of Kate Middleton holds a lesson for every Christian girl. As wife to Prince William and presumed future queen of England, Kate is in a position of representing Great Britain to the world. Every inch of her appearance, from her hairstyle to her fingernails, sends the world a message about the nation […]

The History of Womanhood That Feminists Don’t Want You to Know

The recent naming of Nancy Pelosi as the “most powerful woman in American history” has sparked national discussion on both the history of women in America and the nature of woman’s power. As Speaker of the House, Mrs. Pelosi holds the highest civic position any American woman has held to date, and her hand in putting through the recent Health Care Bill will have huge historic implications. Though we don’t see it as a great advance for women to finally be oppressed by one of our own, this is undeniably a kind of power.

But behind this recent tribute to Mrs. Pelosi is this presupposition: “Women find their power in holding the positions of men – the traditional women’s role has no power. The power traditional women exercised in the past doesn’t count.”

Americans are ready to believe this because they long ago adopted a feminist view of history.

A Sale at Western Conservatory

Two New Messages by Victoria Botkin

In honor of the beginning new school year and in conjunction with their Back-to-School Sale, Western Conservatory is releasing two practical new messages on home education by Victoria Botkin (one of them free!)

How to Teach Your Children to Love Learning: Home Education Made Simple, Stress-Free and Successful by Victoria Botkin



Until your children learn to love learning, homeschooling will be a battle and a chore.

Wrangling unmotivated children will wear you out. School will be the first thing to drop on days when you just can’t stay on top of everything. That nagging fear will creep in: You’re just not teaching them everything they need to know. And you may find yourself being crabby teacher lady more often than fun, lovable mommy.

When children love to learn, they drive themselves as fast you can steer them and fill their own educational gaps faster than you can find them. Their educations march on even during busy days, stressful days, hard days, tired days. But can we turn our children into those children?

Make Homeschooling the Most Fun You and Your Children Ever Had!

With warm motherly wisdom and the experience of over 30 years homeschooling seven children, Victoria Botkin explains how you can give your child that unquenchable thirst for knowledge and motivation to learn. With practical tips on creating a home that will do a lot of the homeschooling for you, getting your children more interested in studying than being entertained, making “free time” educational, helping them take ownership of their own educations, rising above the limitations of your own education, and more, Victoria will soon become the teaching mentor you’ve been waiting for.

If you’re more interested in real, lasting investments in your child’s mind, heart, and character than in expensive programs and gimmicky formulas; if you want to make home education happen without, you know, having to make it happen; if you want learning to be the most fun you and your children have ever had together… listen to this message!

“Victoria, you truly are a sort of spiritual mother to me. The type of motherly wisdom I have longed for and that I desire to be to my own children. As I go about my day, home educating (none of our children have ever been in public school), I often hear your voice in my mind when teaching my darlings or in other daily activities. Thank you for your example. Thank you for giving young mothers and wives a different option to understand in a deeper depth a way of living other than our current culture. A million times, thank you!” T.D.

My Top Teaching Tips (From 30 Years of Homeschooling) by Victoria Botkin



Whether you’re a new homeschooler, or the mom who’s been at this a while and just needs to push the “refresh” button…

Whether you’re feeling bogged down and wanting to start over, or you’ve already got a good system in place and could just use some time-tested tips and advice… this message provides wisdom that could be making a difference in your home by lunchtime.

Victoria Botkin’s “Top Teaching Tips” is both a refreshing step back to refocus on what really matters, and a vault of valuable tips gathered from over 30 years of learning what does and doesn’t work with real children. Victoria’s sane, simple, stress-free, and successful approach to producing well-educated children will give you a sigh of relief, and her warm, transparent, grace-filled spirit will refresh your soul.

Answers to Your Biggest Homeschooling Questions

Learn to conquer the homeschool-mom-bugaboos like teaching writing, getting your children interested in reading, seizing the teachable moment, using the internet, finding good books, using books by non-Christians, helping our sons transition into manhood when they’re with mommy all day, teaching our children to be life-long learners, and much more! Whether your children are toddlers or teens, you will come away from this talk reassured, re-oriented, and refocused (and your husband and children will be blessed by your increased peace and confidence!)

“We would like to thank you for your cd on curriculum advice. I say ‘we’ because my husband enjoys the new, relaxed me! It has allowed me to breathe and relax in our homeschooling journey. Well, I have only had your CDs for a couple months but listen to them ALL the time, along with the virtuous woman series, which my sister-in-law and i just LOVE. I always come away from them peaceful and happy to be a helpmeet and mommy!” E.

Announcing Four New Audio Messages

Well, we’ve got four new audio messages in the store (two of them free! Go download now!) on four topics we’re pretty keyed up about. At the very least, go check out the two free ones, and write and tell us what you thought! (You can reach us at damselsATvisionarydaughtersDOTcom) We love hearing your feedback.

If you think God’s plan for young women is all about being modest, keeping pure, staying home, preparing for marriage, and waiting for Prince Charming… you will not like this message. But…

If you’re tired of a small and fruitless vision for single womanhood, and are wondering if God might want more from you…
If you’re frustrated with a lack of fruitfulness, real-world involvement, and opportunities to grow, be stretched, and exercise your gifts…
If you’re sick of legalism, idolatry, formulas, movements, bandwagons, Christian-subculture trends and man-made rules, and just want to get back to God’s timeless principles for young womanhood…
Or if you’re just trying to figure out what you believe and why…

…take a step back with Anna Sofia and Elizabeth, away from the narrow applications and movement trends, and reexamine the baseline biblical principles that should form the foundation of our vision of single womanhood. Discover a robust vision of spreading the gospel, serving the saints, reaching out to the poor and needy, being full of good works, exercising your gifts, strengthening your arms, working with your hands, making the most of your single years, seeking first the Kingdom of God, and more!

In this message, the Botkin sisters reexamine hot button issues like a father’s authority, marriage, singleness, college, jobs, ministry, giftedness, Phariseeism, pursuing fruitfulness rather than just safety, serving our families vs. serving other people, why feminism is not the big enemy, and of course, “staying at home.” Prepare to be more excited about being a single Christian young woman than you’ve ever been before!

You’re a solid young Christian woman. You’re committed to purity and wholesome relationships. You don’t hang out with “bad” guys. And you suddenly find yourself dealing with a guy who’s trying to play you, manipulate you, use you, entice you, or even abuse you. What do you do?

It’s dangerously naïve to deny that predators, manipulators, abusers, playboys, wolves, stalkers, and creeps haunt every circle – as do good guys simply having a hard time mastering their sin nature. And though we’re never responsible for sins men commit, it’s time to know our own power to resist and rebuke evildoers.

Drawing lessons from how Abigail and Bathsheba each responded to the same godly man when he was off the path, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth clear away legalistic relationship rules and formula-based approaches to “purity,” and focus on how to become a woman with the confidence to put the fear of God into men who are in sin. Hear straight talk on self-defense, dealing with a flirt, how not to be a doormat, a woman’s rights and recourses for resisting, combating manipulation, becoming spiritually strong, and the gospel’s hope for moving on from our own past mistakes.

Have you ever struggled with purpose and fruitfulness? Yearned to use your single years more fully? Wondered how God wants to see you developing your gifts and using them for Him? Questioned how principles of home-based womanhood can really work out practically in tough financial situations and a failing economy? Then this talk was given for you. In this inspiring, practical, and game-changing message by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, discover the missing keys to a vibrant, fruitful (and economically viable) family life.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by a mold of “biblical” femininity that seems small, weak, mousy, or useless, maybe it’s time to re-examine what characteristics God praises in a woman, and the forgotten reason God created woman in the first place — to stand at man’s side in adventure, discovery, progress, dominion work, and spreading the gospel. In this inspiring, humorous, and life-changing message by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, get challenged to go beyond your comfort zone; be introduced to a handful of adventurous heroines from history; be encouraged to embrace a more full-orbed picture of biblical womanhood; and prepare to have all your stereotypes of femininity smashed (with a tent-peg).

Engaged: Isaac Botkin and Heidi Roach!

One of our favorite things about having so many brothers… is all the wonderful new sisters we keep getting! As of last week, another of our dearest friends is about to become family: Our brother Isaac just became engaged to Heidi Roach. Heidi has been a real inspiration to us over the years as an example of how a woman can be uncommonly strong, capable, sensible — one of those women who can cook for a hundred or organize a 4000-person event without breaking a sweat and then run help deliver a baby or two in the middle of the night — while also being uncommonly humble, meek, tenderhearted, funny, selfless, genuine, and sacrificial. “A virtuous woman,” says Proverbs 12:4, “is a crown to her husband,” and God has given Isaac a virtuous woman and crown indeed.

We’re so happy for you, Isaac and Heidi, and can’t wait to see what amazing things God has in store for you two!

The Top 10 Things Girls Should Study (But Rarely Do)

We all want to equip ourselves to be godly women, but do we really know what that equipping should look like? A diet of books on modesty, courtship, and cake decorating will definitely fill the bill if the role we aspire to is simply one of wearing modest clothes, going through a courtship, and decorating cakes. But if we truly believe the biblical role of women is bigger and more significant than this, we need put our money where our mouths are and pursue education and training to match.

As we’re preparing for our family’s upcoming “Ready For Real Life” webinar, and thinking through the things most we believe important for Christian women to study, we thought we’d share our top ten. Not necessarily in order of importance.

The Top 10 Things Girls Should Study (But Rarely Do)

Economics and Business – In Proverbs 31, even the virtuous woman’s wisdom and kindness are not praised as frequently as her business acumen, industry, and economic profitability, which is why we believe these are some of the most feminine things a Christian woman can study. (Yes, feminine.)

It’s interesting to note that although the man is the one biblically charged with providing for his household (Gen. 3:17-19, 1 Tim. 5:8), the kind of virtuous wife he’s told to look for (Prov. 31:10,11) is one who works and produces and brings in “no lack of gain,” in the context of her household economy and her husband’s interests. Along with cooking and cleaning, being a good homemaker should require learning the Proverbs 31 skills of buying, selling, investing, producing, marketing skills, having marketable skills, and of course stretching a dollar (v. 16,24,13,18,19,22, etc). By the way, this is the missing concept that made stay-at-home womanhood make sense once, in good times and in bad.

Law – If you want to understand the world, you have to understand the legal systems that rule it and where they came from – Common Law, Natural Law, Sharia Law, Constitutional Law, and so forth. Most importantly, though, you need a thorough knowledge of God’s law, His case-by-case specifics of how to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves, the standard by which all other law systems must be evaluated. King David, the man after God’s own heart, wrote, “O how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day.”

And when we someday have to arbitrate complex disputes in our future homes (“He broke my toy truck!”), we aspiring Proverbs 31 women need to have the “law of kindness” (literally, in Hebrew, the Decalogue or Pentateuch) on our tongues. If it’s not biblical justice from the law of God that we’re teaching our children, we will be teaching them the law of something else – be it libertarianism, communism, anarchism, liberalism, Victorianism, or Santa Claus.

Political Science and Current Events – If we women knew how big the world was, we wouldn’t be content to live for things that are so small. From geopolitics to local elections, from scandals in D.C. to insurrections in Egypt, we women live in a world much bigger than our living rooms, churches, and friends. Studying current events and world politics means looking at the world beyond our social media feeds, at a reality outside of movies and novels, at events more significant than the latest great recipe/decorating idea/deal on shoes/celebrity-breakup. This is how you get the big picture view of where you, your family, your friends, your church, your community, and your nation, fit into God’s unfolding plan for the world. This is how you learn to recognize opportunity, see needs, and prepare for the future. Remember, it was because the men of Issachar “had understanding of the times,” that they knew “what Israel ought to do.” (1 Chron. 12:32)

And if we want to help our fathers, brothers, and husbands lead in the gates and raise our children to possess the gates of their enemies, our interest in world events should be bigger than checking facebook to see what our friends had for lunch.

History – And not only biographies, but the whole saga of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man. History is also the story of how women helped or hurt their men, raised villains or heroes, and helped build or tear down nations. If you really want to learn what kind of woman to be (or not to be), read more history.

The Sciences – We Christian women have been made co-stewards of a physical world that operates according to certain rules and it’s helpful to know what some of them are. It’s impossible to grow things, fix things, measure things, build things, invent things, code things, and compare prices of things without a good foundation in math, geometry, chemistry, botany, engineering, and so forth. And don’t dismiss these things as man things: The work of dominion – which involves invention, exploration, classification, cultivation, and discovery – was assigned to the man and the woman.

Health, Nutrition, and Basic Medicine – If you have a family, hope to have a family, or are ever around any people, you’ll be better equipped to serve if you’re ready to deal with burns, bites, gashes, choking, allergies, dietary problems, and women suddenly going into labor in the backseat of the car. And if you have a good basic understanding of how God designed the body to work, you’ll be able to sort between health/diet trends, to be a better steward of the kingdom resource that is your body.

Home Management – Yes, we should have the basics down by the time we’re ten, which means we should have plenty of time over the next few years to get to the next level – learning to do everything better, faster, and healthier, for less money, or how to cook for thirty on an hour’s notice. We all cook and clean every day anyway, but how many of us approach household management and hospitality as something worth studying to do with excellence?

Culture and Aesthetics – Pretend you could wipe the current cultural scene clean of all the filth, and redesign the whole thing – art, music, fashion, film, the works – to be what you think culture should be like. What would that be? This is exactly what your home, your wardrobe, and your ipod are – your own little tailor-made corners of culture. So what kind of aesthetics are you promoting? Thomas Kinkade? Picasso? Chopin? Lecrae? VeggieTales? Forever 21? If culture is religion externalized, that means these choices are not religiously neutral, and it’s time for Christian women, the creators of home culture, to start knowing the difference. Even if the biggest stand you ever take for Christian culture is the music you play around the house, the art you hang on the wall, and the way you dress your children… that will make a difference.

Communication – Knowing what to say and how to say it. It starts with having something to say, and a love for the person you’re trying to say it to, both spiritual qualities. However, assembling the tools for communicating effectively does take study and practice, whether it be in writing, editing, public speaking, or carrying on a conversation. And let’s take studying how to carry on a conversation more seriously – it means learning to be discreet (Prov. 11:22, 1 Sam. 25), gracious (Prov. 11:16), able to give an answer (1 Pet. 3:15), to “speak a word in season to him who is weary” (Isa 50:4), to speak “the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), and to “make knowledge acceptable” (Prov. 15:2). Your tongue is a weapon powerful enough to set the world on fire. Do you know how to use it?

Theology – It’s remarkable how easy it is to want to live biblically without making a priority of actually studying the Bible. Some ask how important it is for a woman to study theology if she isn’t going to be a pastor or a missionary. Answer: If she wants to know God, think His thoughts after Him, live the way He wants her to, and understand any other subject in the world, she has to start with theology.

This is because theology is more than the study of esoteric controversies like supralapsarianism vs. infralapsarianism. It is, in essence, the study of God’s mind, heart, and will regarding everything in the world (as He reveals it in His word). It’s not something we study just to make ourselves feel brainy or help us win debates – to fuel “an unhealthy craving for controversy,” “quarrels about words,” or “foolish controversies,” which are “unprofitable and worthless” (Titus 3:9, 2 Tim. 2:23, 1 Tim. 6:4). Studying theology means becoming “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9) It means searching to find what God thinks about culture and education and bioethics and pop music and relationships and women in the military and anything else that affects your life. It means we stop using the Bible as a therapist to make us feel better, and read it instead to be challenged, convicted, commanded, and changed. How could this be optional?

And what better way to educate ourselves than to seek the mind of the One “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”? (Col. 2:3) Perhaps this is why Psalm 119:98-100 says that His statutes make us wiser than our enemies, His testimonies give us more understanding than our teachers, and His precepts make us more understanding than the ancients.

Questions on Homeschooling?

What are your biggest questions about homeschooling and life preparation? Biggest fears? Biggest doubts? Biggest struggles? Though we’ll be taking live questions throughout the webinar as well as having a bonus Q&A session at the end, hearing your main questions now will help us make sure our sessions tackle all the major topics our listeners want to hear about. Just send any questions to mail@westernconservatory.com. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

A New Botkin Family Webinar

What Should a 21st Century Education Look Like?

We homeschooling parents know we’re giving our children a decent academic education. But let’s face it – we sometimes wonder if we really know how to equip them to be the adults the 21st Century needs. After all, the world our children are inheriting will be more complex, uncertain, and turbulent than the one we had to face.

Will your children know how to handle business and finance in a down economy? Defend their faith to militant antagonists? Stand firm against a defiling culture? Fight for their freedoms? Take advantage of technological innovations? And see opportunity amid the chaos?

More importantly, what kind of salt and light are they prepared to be? They may be able to name every country in the world, but do they know how to disciple the nations? They may know about the Battle of Waterloo, but do they know how to fight the battles of today – to win? Homeschoolers have proven they can beat the world at geography and spelling. But can we lead in the arts? Can we lead in the gates? Do we know how to take dominion of science and technology?

If your children are going to be the leaders of the 21st Century, they need to be educated for it. And even if you feel unprepared to equip them for this… there’s no one more qualified for the job than you.

A Webinar to Help You Educate Your Children for the 21st Century

The “Ready for Real Life” webinar, hosted by the entire Botkin family, will take on the practical side of educating children for the real world, also tackling every-day issues like saving money on curriculum, teaching your children to take responsibility for their own education, dealing with different learning styles, teaching social skills and confidence, helping children who don’t like to read or write, creating an educational home environment, and helping children learn marketable skills.

Hear from each member of the Botkin family, as they talk about lessons they’ve learned along the way, books and resources they recommend, things that worked for them, and things they’ll never do again.

Six Sessions, Plus Free Bonus Q&A Session!

Webinar sessions will run every Tuesday evening, 7PM CST, from September 3-October 15. Each session will include time for Q&A, plus you’ll get a free bonus Q&A session at the end.

Sessions include:

Ready for What? What We Must Educate Our Children to Be and Do
Ready to Think and Communicate: How to Have Something to Say and How to Say it – Studying Theology, Apologetics, Critical Thinking Skills, Writing, Researching, Editing, Speaking, and how to boldly give an answer.
Ready to Lead Culture: How to Take Dominion of the Arts Without the Arts Taking Dominion of You – Studying Music, Art, Photography, Graphic Design, Fashion, and Filmmaking
Ready to Take Dominion of the Earth: Studying Science, Math, Engineering, Medicine, Computer Sciences, Agriculture, Construction, and the basic knowledge necessary in order to participate in 21st Century progress.
Ready to Lead in the Gates: Studying Economics, Law, Political Science, Military Studies, Geography, and History
Ready for Anything: Figuring Out Vocation, Gifts, Real Life Skills, and the Unique Challenges of the 21st century
Bonus: Final Questions and Answers

Webinar registration fee is $39 for all seven sessions. Join the Botkin family for a weekly whole-family event full of encouragement, challenge, and motivation! Go HERE to sign up.

About The Botkin Family

Home education pioneers and thirty-year veterans Geoffrey and Victoria Botkin homeschooled their seven children from the beginning. Geoffrey has also lectured on philosophy and history at Hillsdale College, on politics at the Heritage Foundation, on media at the Christian Filmmakers Academy, and on theology in the U.S., Germany, Central America, South Sudan, and New Zealand. He and Victoria will be joined by all seven of their grown children (two married with children), including Isaac (author of Outside Hollywood, producer of “Navigating History: Egypt,” and faculty at the Christian Filmmakers Academy), David (military historian, IT professional), Anna Sofia and Elizabeth (authors of So Much More and It’s (Not That) Complicated, producers of “Return of the Daughters”), Benjamin (musician and composer), and Lucas (volunteer firefighter, studying emergency medicine) and Noah (web developer and designer, studying alternative energy).