Hi!

Hey, I just got home from a homeschool convention, and boy what a deep time of reflection it was!

There is really so much to talk about! 

 I got to hear a wonderful, soul searching, convicting talk by Norm Wakefield of Spirit of Elijah Ministries.  He's a pretty neat homeschooling Dad who reminded me of Peter Graves, I think that was his name.  You know, he was one of the actors on that old show "Mission Impossible."  Hmmmm....I wonder if there is some connection there, you see I caught one of his talks and it was called "What's a Mom to do with her teenage son."  That seems like an impossible mission to me on most days.  But not for the Lord of course.  With HIM, nothing is impossible!  It was good, good stuff. There is so much to consider in each stage of our development; both in our kids and ourselves!

I took my two oldest kids with me, and they heard Jay Wile speak.  They loved him!  My kids are totally into creation apologetics and they learned a lot from Mr. Wile.  They have been sharing it with me so much that I think I am changing the name of our homeschool from "Briarknoll Cottage" to "Punctuated Equilibrium Academy."  Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?

Next on the agenda was Lorrie Flem, who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time in person!  We have known each other and worked together on projects online for a few years now and we just finally met.  I was so happy!!!  She's an amazing lady and they had her speaking back to back, I think, FIVE times at the conference at least on one day - barely time to catch her breath in between.  But she is such a lady of composure and grace that she just took it all in stride and gave God the glory.  My kids and I had a great time meeting her family members that were there and spending time helping out at the TEACH booth.  It was great!

Oh, I managed to make a few of her talks too which were great!  "Teach So They Will Learn" was a very informative session on methods, pros and cons and resources.  She was so encouraging to me!  Our "non-method" is so misunderstood and hard to explain at times and Lorrie really spoke to my heart about what we do, or don't do with our kids.  Frankly, there was a common thread through each of the conferences that I attended, and only God can orchestrate such a thing.

For one of the opening sessions the speaker was Kris Klicka of HSLDA.  He was very instrumental in helping here in our lovely state as far as our legislation goes and we are so thankful to him for all he has done!  He is such a humble and content man, and loves the Lord with all of his heart.  I was completely touched by his testimony and all of his Godly encouragement. Please keep Kris and his family in your prayers, as well as HSLDA.

Three other ladies that were speaking that I was able to hear were Maggie Hogan, Mardy Freeman and Carol Barnier.  Maggie is another one of those gals that I have worked with online and blogged with and was SO thrilled to finally meet her!  She is great fun!  My only regret was sitting too far back in her session:  None of the chocolate she threw out into the group made it back to where I was.  Maggie, please work on that arm muscle, OK?  Or maybe I just better sit up front!  Actually, it was the squirt guns and bubbles that I would have loved to have instead of that old nasty chocolate...

When I was walking the vender hall I met Mardy Freeman and her husband and they noticed where I was from and said they had just celebrated their anniversary here!  So we got to talking and she was so sweet and radiant that I really wanted to hear her speak.   She has an amazing life story too, what a testimony to the Lord.  What a real live person.  She was great!  She talked on Character, and I gotta get her session on MP3 so I can listen again.  It was that good!

Carol Barnier is FUNNY!  I have loved seeing her sweet face alongside her articles in TOS, and it was so fun to hear her in person.  She has a son who sounds like a twin of one of mine, and her talk was about not missing the Gift that your child IS.  Basically the premise was that even if a child is very, um shall we say "challenging" in one way or another, that we need to see them through the eyes of God, and HE sees their potential down the road.  He knows the end product, and we need to look forward to that day and not get bogged down with the things that seem difficult.  We need to recognize those quirky things that drive US to distraction as distinct gifts that the Lord has placed there for a reason.  Anyway, it was awfully fun, and after missing several sessions due to not getting there soon enough for a seat---I kid you not, standing room only, over and over----I got to Carol Barnier's session EARLY and sat right up front and center!  I wasn't going to miss a thing! 

 Anyway, Carol is another one with an amazing testimony of God's grace and mercy in her life.  He is so good to use all of these gals (and guys) for His glory and for our encouragement.

Ok, lets see....we also got to see and hear the Colorado Wranglers and the Von Trapp Children!   That was a highlight and a delight!  It was all a great way to recharge and try to get a new strategy for the next season of our homeschooling journey. 

Be looking in an upcoming TEACH Magazine for some photos I took of Lorrie and some of her colleagues and friends encouraging each other at the conference.  I think truly a good time was had by all.

Homeschooling Is Life,

Nancy

p.s. thanks friends, for praying for us these last few weeks.  We appreciate it!