heartofdakota.com

As the country is in the midst of coronavirus repercussions, I can get worried (especially with our son Greyson, being immunocompromised). Yet, I am so thankful that the Lord is with us always! I remind myself that He is never caught unaware, as He is the orchestrater of all things. I take comfort that He is not some distant being watching from afar. Instead, He is our loving Father. I know that when I am scared or worried, He comforts me and surrounds me with His mighty presence.

How are all of you doing?

Blessings,
Carrie

Our family luckily has above average health. Our parents are over 60, but luckily they are healthy and live in rural areas. So hopefully they will be unaffected by this as well.

But our daily lives have changed a little. My oldest had a big trip cancelled for this weekend, one that they had spend over two months practicing and preparing for. It was heartbreaking, but we know in the grand scheme of things, it is a little thing. All of our extracurriculars except music lessons and church are cancelled for at least three weeks. Our church isn't affected mostly because it is tiny! With average attendance under 20, we are continuing as normal. But many area churches are either going remote or canceling everything but the actual service. Some are continuing almost as normal (skipping handshaking and similar parts only), but even those are recommending any families with anyone in the high risk categories stay home and watch the live stream.

It is definitely a new experience for everyone. Schools are cancelled. LIbraries are closed. I expect some of our museums and other places common for field trips will also close. So we are going to spend the next three weeks buckling down and getting school done. We might get more than a unit done in a week because everything else is cancelled/closed, and we have nothing better to do with our time.

Here in Canada, everything is shutting down. Large (and, increasingly, small) meetings, schools, some day cares, theatres, some restaurants, while others have gone to pick-up/take-out only, and more changes daily.

As a homeschool family, we will miss regular events like Bible Study, Youth, church, etc., but for the most part, our lives will continue with adjustments. I'm so thankful for the routine of homeschooling and the ease of continuing with what we've already established for our kids, educationally! (I've even ordered the NBing pages our daughter will need to start WH in April!)

The one major casualty of the shut down/self-isolation/social distancing, or whatever we call it, is that our provincial homeschool conference was scheduled for April 4. In addition to missing the great speakers, fellowship and vendor hall, I am mourning the fact that, after attending this conference for 15 years (since our oldest was 3 1/2!), we will miss participating in their Graduation Recognition that is always held during the final Keynote session. My son doesn't care; we'll still hold a family BBQ, or something, later this spring/summer, and we'll still give him his gift (a suit!). However, no other venue will replace the understanding/support/fellowship of his/our achievement being recognized in front of a room full of homeschoolers! This is the one event I will mourn.

Otherwise, we're doing really well! Staying healthy (so far) in rural Manitoba!
Blessings,

We are doing okay down here in the South. Everything is cancelled, restaurants can only serve through drive thru and take out, and many other things have now been closed. I think the outbreak is definitely worse than we know here. Testing just isn't very widespread yet. It is in our city though and very close to where we live. I'm just praying for God to see us through. On the bright side, we are business as usual at home and getting tons of school done.

Ladies,

It is great to hear from you! We are continuing the "isolated" life here in South Dakota! Blessedly, we are used to being pretty isolated out here, so life is going forward without too many bumps. Our boys are busy with homeschooling each day, and they are still able to go to work at Heart of Dakota (since they only work with their cousins who also homeschool). We are glad that our circle is small right now, as it is easier to live life if we can all interact with one another. We've done the quarantine thing in the past for Grey, and life gets very busy quickly that way (with wiping everything down, doing laundry, eating separately, and airing out, not to mention keeping the quarantined person - or persons - and everyone else comfortable). I am hoping all of you are hanging in there! Give us an update if you can!

Blessings,
Carrie

We are doing well here in Montana. Most everything is closed. Restaurants are available for drive thru or pick up. As of yesterday all non-essential businesses were required to close. Church is online(that's the hardest part for me so far). All of the kids activities have either been canceled or have moved online. It's all strange for sure. One thing I know is that we definitely take things for granted and this has been so eye opening. Moving forward I intend to be intentional about being more thankful for all of our luxuries. My husband is an essential worker so he hasn't missed any work. I am thankful for that, but at the same time he could potentially end up being exposed to the virus. We are just taking things one day at a time.

Thanks so much for sharing! As the quarantine continues, how are all of you doing? What are you doing to get through these days? How are your families? School goes forward here for which we are very grateful. The boys are immersed in good books. After reading, The Sword the Ring and the Parchment from the Boy 7/8 Pack for DITHR, Beau launched into reading the rest of the series. He is already on the last book and is loving it! Beau is also loving reading the Iron Scouts of the Confederacy right now for DITHR. Greyson is knee-deep in The Scarlet Letter. He's enjoying his new US1 guide, and we are thrilled he is able to do school full-time right now! We are grateful that Grey is in a more stable state during this unstable time in our nation.

We miss the fellowship of church, as church is online now. We are hearing about more people turning their hearts toward God during this time. Perhaps that is God's purpose for this pandemic. Revival is so needed.

Blessings,
Carrie

We are filling our days with school. We are doing a unit in 4 days for the older three. The girls should finish their guides by mid May (except grammar- which we are slightly behind in). We will likely take 1-2 weeks off of full school and then start back up. When there isn't much else to do, why not get school done? Then we can take more time off in the fall when things are open again (hopefully).

I am missing the ease of grocery shopping. I don't like the constant search for things we want/need that are normally readily available. I don't like having to find a time to go without the kids. I don't like the questions of if I have just brought germs home that could make us all sick. But I am thankful that we have more than enough food and for the blessing of finally finding flour this week!

I am also missing our church family, Awana family, and homeschool community. The big kids get to do virtual Awana nights, which is helping them emotionally I think. It is definitely something that is brightening their week. And next week, they get to start don't some things for drama virtually as well, which should make them all excited. I am looking forward to getting more one on one time with my youngest while they are doing the drama things! We use to run errands and go to museums and parks while they were at practice each well, and I loved that time with him!

I am glad Grey is doing well during all of this! It is probably a relief to not have to deal with the restrictions on the hospitals right now.

So glad to hear Greyson is doing so well! Praise God <3
We moved to Chicago last summer, and are SO thankful we were able to fly out to CA to visit family just before everything shut down!

I am super thankful for our HOD guides right now. Keeping on track with them and just continuing our established routine has been the most peaceful thing for our family! My almost-8-year-old daughter gets anxious with change, or even hearing anyone talk about the coronavirus chaos, so we have really tried to keep things as normal as possible. Homeschooling as usual has helped so much with this!!
We super miss our church family, and our Wild & Free group outings, but praise God that He is using all of this for good and His glory.
Streams in the Desert on April 5th was spot-on!

That is good you were able to get your visit in to California! I am glad that schooling with HOD is helping to keep your routine a bit more normal. We are finding the same to be true here! We are finding a new "normal" for now.

We are praying for health for all of your families and are so grateful for your prayers for us and for Greyson. What a blessing it is to have families like all of yours think of us!

Blessings,
Carrie

Hi from the other side of South Dakota!! We are pretty much like you, doing school as usual. Hubby was already working from home before this 3 days a week and so it's no big deal to have him working from home 5. We took a socially isolated drive (didn't even get out of vehicle) thru Custer State Park yesterday. It was nice to get out of the house and go somewhere!! Thru all this it has really brought home to me how incredibly blessed I am. Hubby still has a job, our finances have not changed. Our schooling isn't affected - no thrown into working from home and trying to public school at home. I tend to be a complainer and this has really reminded me - I have nothing to complain about!! It was actually convicting for me. A couple months ago I was complaining how FULL our calendar was. At least one kid had something everyday!!! My how that has changed!

So thankful Greyson is doing better right now.

Our lives feel fairly 'normal' - we are still able to homeschool, and my dh began working from home about 5 years ago. We are so thankful homeschooling feels normal, and our church is doing live FB videos with our worship team and pastor. We are missing the fellowship of spending time with people at church, at our gym, and with our extended family - especially for things like Easter and my mom's 80th birthday.

My mom has been a special inspiration to me. Our Dad passed away about 6 years ago, and I've been wondering how she'd handle this quarantine. Well, she's doing so well! She's found house projects to do, she's watching more sermons (four in a row on Easter Sunday!), she's found shows to watch in the evening, and she's quite cheerful!!! She does not complain, nor say she's lonely or scared. I know this attitude of hers is a daily choice she is making by trusting God and drawing close to Him. She is an inspiration for me to try to do the same!

I have been going through ALL our books in the basement, HOD and free reading books. These range from baby board books to college level. Yikes! It is a big task, but I am feeling so good about it! I'm also planning to paint the kitchen and have dh change out a window, a light, and our kitchen cabinet handles. We will finish our guides around mid-May, do testing for Riley, and take a break. Then, I am not sure! We may do a few subjects like dictation, grammar, and math - just to 'get ahead' a little, keep up some skills, and fill some time if we are still quarantined. We shall see! I hope and pray you are all doing well, staying healthy, and enjoying staying home as much as you can!

In Christ,
Julie

My mom has been a special inspiration to me. Our Dad passed away about 6 years ago, and I've been wondering how she'd handle this quarantine. Well, she's doing so well! She's found house projects to do, she's watching more sermons (four in a row on Easter Sunday!), she's found shows to watch in the evening, and she's quite cheerful!!! She does not complain, nor say she's lonely or scared. I know this attitude of hers is a daily choice she is making by trusting God and drawing close to Him. She is an inspiration for me to try to do the same!

How encouraging! Thanks for sharing, Julie! Praise God

Thanks, Janelle! I'll have to tell my mom she is even being an encouragement to others now - God bless!!!

In Christ,
Julie