Trisha Mugo

The panic hit me like a hurricane.

My eighth-grader would enter high school soon, and I felt totally unprepared.

Transcripts. Chemistry. Physics.

How in the world will I manage it all?  Googling “private schools near here” and “classical online academies,” sent my head spinning.

I can’t remember if I prayed, but a few days later I learned that my friend, Lea Ann Garfias, wrote a book called Home School High School Made Easy.

This book has been a godsend! With lots of humor, Lea Ann covers each year of high school and each core subject in detail.

Her tips on getting middle schoolers ready for high school are valuable enough to warrant a read.

So can homeschooling high school be easy? Yes, it can when we have a strategy and understand why we’re homeschooling.

Homeschooling will still take time and focus, but when we choose to homeschool in faith, we cut out so much needless worry, which drains our energy.

Quieting the fear demons is half the battle of homeschooling, and this book steadily reminds the reader to homeschool in faith. I loved this excerpt:

“It takes faith to spend more time understanding than regurgitating. It takes faith to wrestle with the messy truths of history rather than memorizing pithy sayings. It takes faith to slow down math to learn the principles instead of the shortcut.”

I especially drew courage from Lea Ann’s decades of experience, and I enjoyed her perspective as a homeschooled student herself.

Homeschooling doesn’t need to feel like slavery. It can be fun and everything we imagined when we started. We can find impossible joy homeschooling when we find our sweet spot where our teaching style intersects with our student’s learning style.

If you have younger kids, you’ll enjoy Homeschool Made Easy, the first book in the series.

It focuses more on the early and middle school years and gives practical advice in teaching through all the stages of learning.

I’ve been the mom trying to do too much, pushing my children further and faster than they’re ready to go. This is where we make school hard, Mamas.

Both books will breathe fresh vision into your school days.

If the thought of teaching your child in high school intimidates you, grab a copy of Homeschool High School Made Easy. It’s like having a personal homeschooling mentor or counselor at your fingertips.

This book helped me calm down. Everything I need is in one book. I don’t need to spend hours researching and reading articles.

A bonus, I found the book full of extra parenting wisdom that I wasn’t expecting—teen driving, dating relationships, and the changing dynamics as teens grow.

Its 278 pages are filled with lessons learned and inspiration to love and parent our children well during these challenging years. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

I don’t get jealous often.

Ok, if you tell me you got a book contract, I’ll probably jealous for a few minutes.  Then I’ll get over myself.

I’ve learned to find happiness in other people’s joy, not grow green with envy.

I can’t think of a darker emotion than envy; it stings in our deepest parts. Knowing I serve a good Father that loves me as much as he loves you, makes all the difference.

In celebrating your wins, I’m able to celebrate a loving God who loves to bless His children.

Your blessings don’t threaten mine. God has enough goodness to go around!

Growing up with a sister gave me lots of practice combatting jealousy. For years I thought my lack of jealousy signaled spiritual maturity, but I was blind to jealousy’s counterpoint growing in my heart.

As I walked one morning, God lovingly began revealing my sin of superiority. It caught me by surprise!

Through my earbuds, Andy Stanley described superiority and jealousy as two sides of the same coin. Both are caused by a poor understanding of God’s love.

Imagine a ladder with one person standing on the ground and another standing on the ladder. Jealousy looks up at the person on the ladder, wishing they had what someone else has. Superiority gazes down, glad to stand a couple rungs higher.

Since childhood, I’ve battled with feelings of inferiority. Gently, God pointed out how I combatted those lies by looking for ways I excelled.

I guess I didn’t really feel good about myself unless I could feel better than someone else. Mind you, this all occurred subconsciously.

Growing up in legalistic Christianity only further taught me to compare and measure myself against others. And subtle habits of the mind can be difficult to break.

Exposure is the first step, and God’s grace always abounds to us, regardless of the sin habit.

If you know anyone who acts haughty, please know that they’re probably covering up for a deep-rooted insecurity. Give them love and grace.

Jesus continues to heal me. He constantly reminds me of my worth in Him and keeps pointing out how I’m no better or worse than anyone else.

That’s what I love about the gospel. It levels the playing field, leaving zero room for superiority.

The disease of original sin struck us all and left us exactly the same—needy sinners incapable of self-help.

Just as I couldn’t even see my sin of superiority, I can’t heal without His help either.

I read this beautiful verse this morning that shatters my idealistic plans of self-help. “No one will succeed by strength alone,” (1 Sam. 2:9 NLT).

We can trust God to heal and forgive us. Only He holds the keys to heart change. Don’t you just love how He deals with us in gentleness and kindness?

Have you ever been blinded to a sin, only to be totally surprised when the Lord pointed it out?