heartofdakota.com

Wow, I am just having the overwhelmingly "thankful" moments to God, for blessing Carrie with the knowledge of children, their development and what kids think is fun!!!

As I have been going through my day, I have been praising and thanking God, and you too Carrie,

The reasons HOD is so amazing for me is:

* I feel so confident using it!!
* It is beautiful to see my children learning more about God
* I love hearing them singing their weekly songs as they go about their day. They are really “hiding God’s word in their hearts!!!
* The lesson are so much fun, yet they are learning SO much.
* I am REALLY enjoying my time with my children, in a way that I have always dreamed of, but never been quiet able to do.
* My whole day runs so smoothly, including the housework etc, because I feel so focused. The flexible structure of the HOD activities keep a great flow to the day, and I can't believe how much I get done
* I love sitting down at the end of the day with an incredible feeling of accomplishment because we have done so much, and it has been SO easy!!
* The children are so excited, their behavior is better, they are treating each more kindly, and are so excited to show "Daddy" their school work at the end of the day, which just brings so much joy into all of our hearts when Daddy comes home. I really feel like we are being more united as a family. (I think the children are happier, because I am!!)
* I am feeling really relaxed (well, most of the time!!) because I know we are covering what we need to in terms of “school” and we are having an amazing time as we go.

To be honest with you all, I love being at home with my children and feel it is a real it is such an amazing privilege to be able to stay home with them, but before HOD I used to struggle with actually “staying at home” and not going out all the time. Now I really LOVE our days at home, and feel sad when we have to go out to our weekly activities, and find myself really hesitating when being asked to things (which is very hard for a “sanguine” like me!!!)

So I feel so grateful to Carrie for all her hard work, and just wanted to let you know that your hard work and ministry is blessing and uniting our family in the most amazing ways.
I feel like with God’s help, and your curriculum we are having the lovely family time at home that I have been longing for. It really feels like words are so inadequate to fully let you know how much your work has meant to us. So know that I am praying for you and your family, in the words of Paul, who always says things much better than me:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus….
…And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ” Phil 1:1-10

Thanks Carrie, and all you other wonderful, wise, Godly women God has blessed me with on this message board!!

Love Deb

P.S I forgot to mention another thing, I am no longer thinking about curriculum choices, pouring over Curriculum review websites, looking at the homeschool classifieds etc. It feels so liberating to find something I love, and not have the stress and time of the "search" YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! So much more time just to enjoy life

Deb - Praise the Lord for your testimony! I'm rejoicing with you...and thankful to Carrie, too.

I can so relate to your comment...

trustinghim wrote:To be honest with you all, I love being at home with my children and feel it is a real it is such an amazing privilege to be able to stay home with them, but before HOD I used to struggle with actually “staying at home” and not going out all the time. Now I really LOVE our days at home...

I am LOVING our homeschooling this year. I look forward to our school time more than the weekends. (HOD vs. bathroom cleaning Hmmm... ) Honestly though, I love schooling my kids! I just was talking to my hubby's grandma at Grant's flag football game on Saturday and she asked how our school year was going. I think I shocked her a little as I was describing how much I loved it and why. She is a wonderful godly grandma who thought homeschooling was a little nuts when my in-laws started it with my husband...but has seen them grow into godly young adults. Anyway, she said, "That sounds great...especially that you enjoy it." She named a couple of people that she knows who homeschool, but do it because they feel God wants them to, but they'd rather not as they don't enjoy it.

I am so thankful to have found a curriculum that teaches from my values and priorities...and is just so fun and easy to use! So I say, "Praise the Lord!" and "Thank you Carrie for your hard work and sensitivity to the Lord's leading!" right along with you.

Kathleen

Deb,

Wow, I agree with EVERYTHING you said! I always feel like I have found the best kept secret with HOD! Well, not really a secret anymore!

Candice

trustinghim wrote:P.S I forgot to mention another thing, I am no longer thinking about curriculum choices, pouring over Curriculum review websites, looking at the homeschool classifieds etc. It feels so liberating to find something I love, and not have the stress and time of the "search" YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! So much more time just to enjoy life

Isn't it great to have the freedom. I felt like a huge burden had been lifted. I am so happy for you that you are loving HOD and that it is blessing your family. Celebrating with you!

Deb,

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to post that! You cannot imagine what a huge blessing it is to Mike and I to know that families are praying for us as we write and walk the homeschool road together. This board has turned out to be an amazing source of encouragement for our family as well, which is something we could never have foreseen! But, God in His infinite goodness knew we'd need encouraging as well. I thank God for each and every one of you ladies and know that He brought you to HOD for His purpose.

I am so humbled every time I read any kind of a thread like this. It helps keep us strong in doing the task the Lord has called us to do, because we all know there are many out there willing to tear each of us down. I thank you for the words from Paul as they are so fitting. We pray for discernment as we write, and pray for the Lord's continued leading as we journey.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for your very inspirational share! Kathleen and water2wine, thank you too, for your sweet encouraging spirits and steadfast commitment to the board. You are greatly appreciated as well!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote: I am so humbled every time I read any kind of a thread like this. It helps keep us strong in doing the task the Lord has called us to do, because we all know there are many out there willing to tear each of us down. I thank you for the words from Paul as they are so fitting. We pray for discernment as we write, and pray for the Lord's continued leading as we journey.

"WRITE BABY WRITE!"

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph 6:12

The enemy would never mess with you if you were not making so much progress to further the Kingdom. Consider it a complement. My prayer is that God will always provide you with the protection, the vision and the courage to continue the good fight. And then the second part is selfishly that He will bless you in it because I know that blesses our family in the end.

I agree~ I am loving HOD and it has given me so much confidence. I am enjoying all the bible lessons as much as my kids. I wasn't raised in a Christian home, so these lessons have "put together" a lot for me as an adult. Just this week our Pastor was talking about worshiping idols and when Moses came down from Mount Sinai- I TOTALLY got this~ From eating a golden "peanut butter" calf with my kids.

trustinghim wrote:Wow, I am just having the overwhelmingly "thankful" moments to God, for blessing Carrie with the knowledge of children, their development and what kids think is fun!!!

I agree! I wouldn't have expected my kids to enjoy the poems with actions every week as much as they do! They just love them! I hear them reciting them to their stuffed animals later in the day!

Oh! I'm so glad to hear this!

Thanks for taking the time to share!

Blessings,
Carrie