Leadership Class

January 22, 2015 KME 3 Comments

One of the privileges of being a part of a homeschool co-op is the opportunity to impact a large group of kids. Every co-op is unique in how it runs its classes, curricula and programming. In ACTS, our current co-op home, if you are willing and available (and have a class that meets a need for the co-op), you can teach a class during one of the semesters. It is a challenging task to add to an already busy homeschooling life, but what an honor!

These five kiddos are, of course, my favorite students (sporting shirts from Thailand and probably the last time they were in “stair step” height).

My favorite co-op kids in the whole wide world.

I remember when they were that size – circa 2010.

I have taught a strange variety of classes over the years. Usually they are things my children are interested in (Civil War, Minecraft, US Presidents, educational games) or things I’ve got a passion for (Peace Makers, public speaking, yearbook) or even areas where I feel homeschoolers should gain proficiency (PowerPoint, Publisher). Last year I ended up teaching several semesters of PE because I wanted Daniel to have a frisbee class and no one else was available to teach. That was the biggest stretch (rivaling my Minecraft class) as I am NOT athletic and don’t have any talent or gifting in leading PE games. In all honesty, Daniel pretty much ran both the Minecraft and the PE classes.

Thanks, Daniel!

You would trust him with your homeschool kids, wouldn’t you?

This semester I’ve somehow stumbled on a Leadership Class. It started out as a student government/leadership class, but the more I research and study and pray about leadership, the more I find myself developing a passion for really understanding and teaching about godly leadership. This week (our second) we are going to delve into the Proverbs for a look at wisdom, the foundation of any real leadership.

Future leaders! Heading into battle?

Sword of the spirit – God’s Word

Several years ago Tim’s parents gave him the Maxwell Leadership Bible and it has sat perched on a shelf in our bedroom since then. I immediately thought of it as I began planning my syllabus. “Maybe that Leadership Bible will have something helpful in it.”

Stand at attention, my students!

What a treasure! Principles, teaching, notes, all sorts of helpful material for, not only the class, but my personal study as well. Rounding out our look at Proverbs, I’ve got movie clips (from silly animations to serious film moments), team building activities, two TA’s who are incredibly helpful, and students who want to LEARN.

Charge!

It’s going to be a great semester. I’m praying for each of my students. Excited to see if God can breathe a passion for leadership into the reluctant learners and cast a vision for strong, servant leadership into those who are natural born leaders already.

Project 365 – Day 22
Kathy

P365 - Day 104

Aslan's Country

No More Bloggy Hiatus

Daniel, Project 365

Coming Home

January 21, 2015 Tim 4 Comments

Kathy and I had the opportunity to attend a prayer conference for a few days in Oregon. Today, the conference ended and we headed home, somewhat dreading AWANA. It is always hard to muster the energy needed for AWANA, and even more-so when we’ve been traveling home from a conference.

Fortunately for me, my awesome assistant Beckie had everything in hand — she had printed all the scripts, and gathered the props, and generally took charge. Jared and I (Jared is my other assistant, who had also attended the prayer conference) were able to let her mostly just run things, which was lovely.

Sometimes, when we are away, Kathy dreads coming home, especially if the house wasn’t very tidy when we left. When we were about an hour from home, she got a text from Daniel.

Daniel made himself a milkshake, and then thoroughly enjoyed it.

Daniel really knows how to enjoy a milkshake.

“How long until you’re home,” he asked.

We spent several miles speculating about why he would ask this question.

“He’s probably thinking about hiding the evidence of the naughty things he did while we were gone,” I said, rather snidely.

“Or maybe there are some bodies that need to be disposed of,” Kathy rejoined. We laughed nervously.

As it turns out, he was cleaning the house, and wanted to know if he had time for a few last-minute touches. We walked into a house that was all tidied-up. He didn’t answer the door, when we first got home, because he was upstairs, vacuuming Sarah’s room.

Daniel has always been the best at cleaning the kitchen until it gleams.

I was very impressed, and Kathy was very thankful. It was so nice to be able to relax for an hour before heading off to AWANA. Thank you, Daniel!

Even the blankets and cushions on the couch were all put away carefully.

Project 365, Day 21
Tim

Project 365 - Day Fourteen (Sun-K)

Aslan's Country

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Being a Disciple of Jesus, David, Project 365, Sarah

Conference & Journaling & Kids

January 20, 2015 KME 2 Comments

We’ve been very blessed to bring David and Sarah with us to this year’s Impact Prayer Seminar. Originally we were going to leave them with friends or grandparents, but things got complicated and other families attending encouraged us to sign David and Sarah up for the conference.

These notebooks are getting FILLED up!

I can only echo what John wrote in 3 John 1:4,

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

What a joy it is to have shared this conference with all of our children over the years. As I sat with David and Sarah in the sanctuary, watching them take notes, listen to the speaker, and concentrate, I was reminded, once again, how blessed we are to have such thoughtful, careful, godly children.

Tim and I have attended this prayer conference many times over the past eight years, so we were more than willing to let David and Sarah be responsible for the note taking job this time. The material ranges from goal setting and time management to the incredible blessings of being a praying leader. This year we’ve especially enjoyed the company of several other church friends and families.

A little search of our blog reveals that we’ve written about the prayer seminar before:

The Lord has taught me many things as I’ve walked this path of godly woman, daughter, wife, mother, sister, friend, mentor, leader, homeschooler. He has greatly enriched my prayer life, humbled me through hardship, blessed me beyond measure, and ALWAYS continues to work in my heart and life.

Journaling with colors is WAY more fun!

I am still processing, thinking and praying about all we’ve studied and discussed and learned during the two and a half days of the conference. 16 hours of teaching on prayer! More than anything I want to be a Champion for Jesus – honoring Him in my service for His kingdom. I want to delight in Him, bring glory & praise to His name, and be purposeful in my days. This seminar has both challenged me and inspired me. Not to mention, been a bit overwhelming as I contemplate being a good steward of all the Lord has given me – my time, energy, finances, gifts, and talents.

Praying that Tim and I, along with David and Sarah, will leave here with renewed passion for following Jesus. Praying that Joshua, Rachel and Daniel will also find encouragement and a fresh love for Jesus even though they weren’t able to join us.

Project 365 – Day 20
Kathy

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Notes for Pennies

WFMW -- Blogging Niche

A Tribute for Grandad

Project 365

Prayer Conference

January 19, 2015 Tim 1 Comment

We are enjoying the Prayer Conference (I think now they call it the Impact Prayer Seminar) at Jefferson Baptist Church. Today we had three sessions and then a dinner afterwards — delicious steak and potatoes and rolls and green beans. The church here really rolls out the red carpet for the 200-odd (in some cases very odd) pastors and lay-leaders in attendance.

We have attended this conference at least three times before (maybe four) — but there is so much information to absorb, and it is great to get a refresher course every two years or so.

Pastor Duke taught on goals for one of the sessions today — always good to be encouraged in that area.

The conference includes about 16 hours of teaching from Pastor Duke, but he mixes it up with lots of fun illustrations, and is very easy to listen to. Usually by Tuesday night our brains are bursting, and we just want to go back to the hotel and veg-out.

We usually don’t bring our kids to this seminar until they are 15, but David and Sarah are both very mature.

This year Daniel stayed home (he has school on Tuesday and Wednesday) so hopefully he is taking good care of the cats, and vice-versa. I’m sure we’ll come back all fired-up with new passion and enthusiasm for bearing much fruit for God’s Kingdom!

Project 365, Day 19
Tim

Reunion Count Down

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Throw Out Your TV!

Tuesday Tips for Parenting - Cooking Creates Memories

Project 365, Tim

Tim the Handy Man

January 18, 2015 Tim 2 Comments

Although I have several skills and abilities, home maintenance and wood-working are not among them. I have a certain anti-genius when it comes to projects around the house.

I’m hoping that David is not like me in this regard.

Whenever I forget who I am, and attempt a household project, it usually follows a certain pattern:

1) I identify the problem and purchase the necessary supplies.
2) Several months go by. (Although some might credit my natural laziness, there is another explanation.)
3) Kathy makes occasional remarks about how nice it is that I have the supplies for the project.
4) I spend a half-hour rounding up the tools I will need. Kathy helpfully points me to the supplies that have been cluttering up her living room for the past 8 weeks.
5) Cautiously, I begin the project.
6) Something goes wrong. Something always goes wrong.
7) In an attempt to fix whatever goes wrong, I damage the thing I’m trying to fix, and I usually waste about 1/3 of the supplies I purchased.
8) I begin to casually speculate about whether I could burn the house down, and make it look like an accident.
9) I spend several hours trying to get back to where we were, before I started this ill-fated project.
10) I go out and purchase more supplies.
11) I eventually cobble together a solution that mostly addresses whatever went badly wrong.
12) I finish the project, which usually looks like a demented four-year-old has savaged it with a reciprocating saw.
13) I vow to never again get sucked into a home maintenance project.

You can see why (2) above usually lasts several months. It takes me a good while to forget how inept I am.

As it turns out, when you force a caster-sleeve into a hole that is too small, things start to go badly wrong.

Today, I must’ve had a fever, because I attempted three projects, and finished two of them. Although the first project didn’t really accomplish anything, we got off pretty lightly ($16 in supplies, and no permanent damage). The second project was a smashing success, if you don’t mind that the blinds I installed aren’t the same color as the ones to the left or right of it. And so far, there have been no serious losses in the third project.