Too Cool for School!

Let the home school journey begin...

(written in my journal on 7/24/17)

I wanted to take some time to get this all down and show how amazing my God is! I don't know why I'm surprised, but He has shown us in such a big way that homeschooling is our calling. It all started June 27th. A few of us moms were at the park with the kids. Two of them homeschool, and I just asked what made them choose to do so. Total curiosity, I had no intentions at this point. Jonah was registered and excited about going to Kindergarten. That conversation planted a tiny seed that would grow and grow over the next several weeks. I went from having the typical sad feelings of my baby starting school to having this strong feeling in the pit of my stomach that this wasn't right. Something is off. Should we consider homeschool? No, that's crazy. We have all these plans of J starting school and being a "Rocket" and making new friends. BUT GOD...What does God want? I began to pray about it. Lay it down before God. I began to seek His answer, not my own. I began to hear His calling. Was I hearing Him right? I prayed for Him to show us without a doubt that this was from Him and not just our emotions. AND OH, DID GOT SHOW UP...I woke up one morning and went to my "Jesus chair". Before I opened a book, I prayed for Got to speak. Show me Lord. I think I know, but help me to be sure. I decided to open my Experiencing God study (one of 3 things I do during my quiet time). That day's assignment was all about Abraham and Isaac. God called Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham went. He obeyed. He layed down his son. God blessed him for his obedience. As I was looking for another verse, I came across Isaiah 6:8 highlighted in my Bible... "I said, 'Here I am, SEND ME'." See, months ago, I prayed for the Lord to give me an assignment. I want to say "Yes, Lord, send me! I trust you!" God give me a mission. He was answering my prayer. I showed all of this to Derek and he agreed that the Lord was calling us to listen to Him and be obedient. Later that same day, I told Mom what we were very likely to to. I shared all of this with her. She smiled and said that while I was reading about Abraham's obedience, she was reading about Jonah's disobedience. God told him to do something, and he turned the other way. God then punished him, and he still ended up doing God's will. We also talked about how I was so torn going into college between nursing and teaching. I wanted to do both! Now I can!!! Was God preparing me for this moment over 11 years ago? Just yesterday, God spoke again. I prayed to start quiet time that God would reaffirm that this is the path He wants us to take. I also asked Him to point out any areas in me that need correction. I opened up Experiencing God again, and that day's lesson was "Worship God." "God's name is majestic and worthy of our praise." It was Sunday! We had gotten out of the habit of staying for Worship. Ok God, today we will stay. It just so happened that Draper Rogers (head over young families) was preaching a message of OBEDIENCE and allowing "God to use me as He sees fit." It was all about how to make a decision the right way. Derek and I just felt like that was God telling us we made the right decision and made it the right way. "We trust you, Your ways are higher than our own!"

*Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

*Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it."

*Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

*Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you."

Our journey through the first few months of homeschool has been more than I could've imagined! Jonah loves is and we got right into a nice routine. We fixed up the perfect classroom in the basement. We begin each day with the pledge to the American flag, Christian flag, and the Bible. We go over days of the week, weather, writing, math, and a Bible verse/story every single day. God's ways truly are best. He knew how much this would mean to me and to this family. Spending this sweet time with my babies while they are little and teaching them about God's world the way it's suppose to be taught. People ask me how long I think we will homeschool. The truth is, I don't know. All I know is that God is calling us to do this now and he will tell us when to do something different. I like to think it will last quite a while, though! 😉💗

ECLIPSE 2017 

Little celebrities made it on the news! Thanks James Spann :) 

"Craters on the moon"

First field trip to Children's Theater - "3 Billy Goats Gruff" 

Making our apple pie... 

It was SO good!!!

"Turtle" unit

Demonstrating the weight of sin... 

Drawing without our sense of sight... 

Homeschool goes on the road when sister has a checkup!!

Water unit - steam, condensation, and evaporation

Insect unit!!!

The ants arrived at the worst time, so they had to go camping with us! 😆

Our "Thankful" turkey

Cow unit - making our own butter

Ferdinand!!! Such a little artist <3 

Math time!

We made it through our first "semester" of homeschool! We are currently on a much needed Christmas break, but we have been having an amazing time. Jonah is thriving and loving having me as a teacher. He tells me almost everyday that I'm the best teacher. Fisher loves it when he gets to join us on Mondays. I am so grateful that God called me to this amazing opportunity! I will never get this precious time back with my babies!!!