Last night I arrived home after spending the weekend at the inaugural South Island HEART conference! (Home Educators Annual Retreat) What a wonderful time! We stayed at Pudding Hill Lodge which is nestled under the mountains about an hour out of Christchurch. It was a precious time of encouragement with about 35 fellow home schooling mums, and a special treat for me was spending time with my dear friends Theresa and Chris (the wonderful lady who first got the vision of HEART).
On Sunday night I went to Geraldine and spoke to a group of young ladies who are attending Bible College at The Crossing. I shared my testimony, and was of course blessed myself remembering how faithfully God has led me through the years.
I read a lot of Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson on the plane home yesterday and feel freshly inspired to give myself fully to the last six years of homeschooling my children. Here’s a quote that was in it from Laura Ingalls Wilder: “I believe it would be much better if children were given their start in education at home. No-one understands a child as well as his mother, and children are so different that they need individual training and study. A teacher with a roomful of pupils cannot do this. At home, too, they are in their mother’s care. She can keep them from learning immoral things from other children.” How true is that! And how needed!
When I got home, Jacob and Samuel blindfolded me and led me out the back door to where our new swimming pool was filled with water! Chris and I (and the children) have been building the pool most of the year. I watched the boys dive in and felt a great satisfaction and thrill! What wonderful times we are going to enjoy as a family in the pool. It was a bit too cold for me to dive in last night , but give it a few more days and the water will be cleaner (it’s from the river so it’s still a tad muddy) and the days will be warmer. Roll on summer!
My little calf Fairlight has been naughty while I’ve been away – not letting the kids catch her, and then when they finally did, she dragged Jacob around the paddock. 🙂 She’s still nervous about me catching her, despite lots of treats and feeds. She’s not bad once I’ve caught her, but I’m hoping her flightiness isn’t a personality trait! I want a calm, steady cow. I guess I just persevere. She’s very cute though!
Rosie ~ 1 November 2011
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