Alot Can Happen In A Month!

Wow, I knew I was busy, but a whole month since my last post? Sheesh! I gotta get on the ball here!! Well here's a recap of all the great things God has done in my life in the last 31 days... and boy has He been busy! 

We have completed the Ultimate Back To School Blast and are gearing up for the Ultimate Special Needs Blast. I got all of this years curriculum lined out and even got a couple of weeks planned (which is good since we start in 10 minus SIX DAYS!!!). We kicked off the new school year for the youth group and Randy and I serving as Lifeguards (youth coaches)! We are both so excited to be working with the amazing group of kids!!! Plus Kay is in the youth so that's going to be a pretty neat experience for us!! Randy has started work on the Permian Basin Fair and we'll probably only see him in passing for the next couple of weeks. And we're about to embark on an awesome experience through our church called The Tabernacle Experience. 

This is a life-size interactive Tabernacle of The Wilderness. I am so excited to be a part of this! If you are within driving distance, I urge you to make a trip to visit this exhibit. It will be open Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 9th from 9 am to 8 pm everyday. And if you're a homeschooling mom I think this would be a great opportunity for your kids! We don't have many "field trip" destinations around here and this is a an excellent chance for them to witness something they can't see anywhere else!! 

“When the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel followed it. And where the cloud settled, the people of Israel camped. In this way, they traveled at the Lord’s command and stopped wherever he told them to. So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them.” Numbers 10

How many of us follow God's lead the way the people of Israel did? Do you seek the Lord's guidance in everything? I'm afraid for some of us this is all too rare a concept! I encourage you to grab your Bible and LISTEN to what the Father is asking of you! LISTEN to what he wants to reveal! And LISTEN to where he wants you to go!! 

And remember to teach your child how to hear Him too!

I am so excited to get to travel through this intimate experience with my own child!

  "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates" Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Well, that about wraps up the month of August! 

I hope you are all having a great start to your school year!!

God took my half-hearted effort and gave me something GREAT!

Have you ever gone into something half-hearted? Thinking you'd be happy getting even a little out of if, not really expecting much at all? Well, that's what happened with me this year with the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. I had heard a bits and pieces about the expo in different circles, but being a new homeschool mom I didn't really know alot about it. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Randy and I had hoped to attend a convention this year for some direction and to see what some of the vendors had to offer as well as have the opportunity to hear/talk to speakers who have been in the homeschool community for several years. But as with most things lately, the money just was not there and we couldn't afford to travel to a large convention this year. Of course, as usual, we failed to rely on the fact that God had already worked things out for us before we even knew we needed Him to. FIVE YEARS before we needed Him to actually!!!
That's how long ago some amazing people began the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. When I originally heard about the expo I thought maybe I would buy a ticket as a supplement to another convention I planned to attend until money got tight and then the the $25.00 ticket to the UHSE started to look like my only option. So we decided we would buy the ticket and if it wasn't very beneficial we were only out 25 bucks! Besides, there were some freebies I would get so I thought maybe it would at least be a wash...

Little did I know, I was in for the surprise of my life! I have been so blessed by this expo! The freebies were great, but the real treasure was in the live and bonus audios! The live audio are offered with an open chat room as well. So not only are you able to listen to the speaker, but you get to meet, discuss and grow relationships with other parents that you would never have the time to do at a live convention. Plus, whatever you miss in the session while you're chatting it up with your new pals, you can listen to later as all live sessions are recorded and then uploaded to the membership site!

The host and owner of the expo Felice Gerwitz moderates the chat room and takes questions then at the end of the session relays all of those questions to the speaker and he/she answers them RIGHT THERE! Try to get that at a live convention! The speakers may have time for "a few" questions but here you actually get discussion. If you're still confused or your question wasn't completely answered just chat that in and Felice will dig a little deeper with the speaker!

I never thought about how chaotic a live convention would really be and how hard it would be to cultivate any relationships outside of those you had before you got there, but stop for a moment and think about it... I liken it to shopping on Christmas Eve. Everyone is rushing around trying not to miss that one thing they're looking for. Ironically enough, just like with Christmas isn't sharing our faith and growing God's kingdom what we're SUPPOSED to be doing? And yet, we're always hurrying around, no time for one another. Well I can honestly say that during expo week I could not wait until each session time so I could chat with my new sisters in Christ! We shared stories, both good and bad, prayed for and with one another and blessed each other with encouragement beyond measure! My cup truly overflows!

And TOPICS! Wow! There was such a wide range of topics that at first I wasn't sure where I wanted to start! Did I want parenting encouragement? Curriculum Guidance? Character Education and Leadership Direction for my Child? Stuff that was beyond my kiddo in age but would apply to my older niece? Help for my husband to be a leader in our home? My options were just endless! Thankfully they are all downloadable! Can you imagine going to a convention with only yourself and possibly your husband and trying to catch EVERY session you wanted to hear, some of them overlapping in times? I'm exhausted just thinking about it! As I said before I have been greatly blessed by this expo.

And you could be too! If you are interested, homeschool parent or not, in some really helpful and encouraging sessions on raising children in God's image while setting your own godly example I urge you to not just take my word for it... go check it out yourself! The membership site is still available and I promise you will not be disappointed!

Here's the link, go take a look!

https://www.secureinfossl.com/affProgram/Ultimate-Homeschool-Expo-2011/52019