A New Tool

nobody@vox.com(sharetheword) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:09:00 -0700

Not long after we began to home school our children, we installed a new computer - at my insistence - hidden in a roll top desk. I was actively resisting this evidence of modern technology cluttering my early colonial decor. But with all my resistance, it was I who spent the most hours typing away on the Word Processor. You see, God was not going to limit my ministry to teaching my own children - instead He expanded it to include children I will not meet until I get to Heaven.

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In the mid eighties, home schooling was a new and novel idea to most people. A gentleman in our church who heard I was teaching my Kindergarten through ninth grade children, assumed that I must know something about those age groups. This was significant to him because he was the editor of a Christian Education publishing house that provided curriculum for children and teens. He asked for a sample of my writing and before I knew it,I was working right along side of my kids - developing materials for a children's program and later Junior High youth groups.

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Today, as I am just learning about blogging, I am once again aware that God always answers prayers for ministry. If we desire to serve Him - He will open the way, and make in fit perfectly with the ways in which He has gifted us. I would have never guessed that God would use my enjoyment of writing along with my commitment to my family.

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If you are reading this, you are probably already more savey about computers and the internet than I am. Have you considered how God could use this tool in your hands to minister to other people and bring glory to our Lord? I would love to hear your comments.

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A Defining Moment

nobody@vox.com(sharetheword) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:41:00 -0700

One of the advantages of having a few years under our belts is the ability to look back and see how God has worked in our lives and led us into His will. There is often a defining moment when God points us in a certain direction.

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One of those was an end of the year school picnic when I overheard one of the mothers talking about her plans to home school the next fall. This was a new idea for me, and I was interested in hearing all about it. To make a long story short - we started homeschooling the following September and continued for the next thirteen years.

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We began with our sons - in ninth grade, second and kindergarten. By the second semester, our eleventh grade daughter joined us. Every once in awhile I would stop and wonder how it was that we came to this place in our family history. All I could do to explain it, was to say that God just picked us up and put us into homeschooling.

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Not only did the Lord lead us to teach our own children, He eventually opened the way for us to take on the leadership of our Independent Study Program with other families. Our common bond was that we were all Christians and most of us had teenagers. In the early years of homeschooling it was more of a challenge with teens because they had been in school for the early years. There was a general "unlearning" that needed to be done, especially in the areas of obedience and respect for the teacher.

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I am very thankful that we had the opportunity to train our children to be respectful and love their parents and each other. Now that they are all adults, and friends with each other and us - I especially thank the Lord for leading us in that unexpected direction.

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Have you considered the possibility of homeschooling? What are your thoughts about this?

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SHARE THE WORD

A New Tool

A Defining Moment