heartofdakota.com

Hey ladies!

I have missed you all here at the HOD board so much! It has been a crazy, busy, and sad several weeks here. I was already beginning to struggle with getting my week in reviews posted...but I gave up completely when a tornado ripped through my little community and devastated the homes of several of my church family members. It has been a very tough week and a half because we have been out helping with the clean-up as much as possible. We were very blessed that nothing of ours was damaged at all. We have put our efforts toward trying to help friends and church family sort through the mess and re-build. This will be a long journey for our little community. Two lives were lost here as a result of the storms.

I am proud to say that, even with the craziness, HOD has helped us keep our sanity and continue with our schooling. My boys have 8 days of their guides left before we do our Stanford Achievement testing and call it year. We are are all very excited and ready for a break. All of the books for Bigger and RTR are sitting on the shelf ready to be used next fall! I know we will be more than ready to dive into them come August.

I am not sure how much I will be able to post in the coming months - with cleanup and summer activities, it seems almost impossible. I just want to tell each of you what a blessing you have been to me during this school year and how much I have enjoyed sharing the ups and downs of homeschooling with you all. I hope to "see" each of you next year as we start fresh and begin our next level in the HOD journey. God Bless you all!

Rebecca

Rebecca, I will be praying for your family and community. I am new to posting at HOD, but have enjoyed reading some of your old posts and seeing your reviews. (We're starting CTC soon, so I have really benefited from your old posts! Thanks so much!) I will look forward to seeing you around in the fall.

May God bless your efforts and bring comfort and peace to those hurting,

Rebecca,

So sorry to hear about the destruction in your area. Our prayers are with everyone there that has been touched by this disaster. It is so good to know that God has placed caring neighbors and friends there to help others who need it right now. We recently were hit by a tornado in our area, as well. We experienced a LOT of damage to trees and outbuildings, but the Lord spared our home and family. I just wanted to let you know that you, too, have been a blessing to the ladies here on the board, and we wish you the best as your boys begin their tests. We look forward to hearing all about how things are going for you next fall as you begin Bigger Hearts and RTR!

Blessings!

Rebecca,
I too will continue to pray for your community. Hope you have a good summer and I look forward to doing RTR with you next year.

my prayers for your family and community. ((hugs))

Rebecca can I ask where you live? We had tornadoes here too and there were 2 lives lost in the town about 20 miles from us.

Rebecca,

I am so glad you are safe! Praying for your community! Praise God your house and family are safe!

Glad to hear that you are safe. Praying for you and your family as you minister to those in your community.

SO sorry to hear about the storms in your area and the destruction and loss of life. But, praise the LORD you and your family are safe!!

Glad to hear from you, and I look forward to sharing our RTR experiences together starting this August!

My prayers are with you and your family. Thank you for the update!

It's nice to hear from you Rebecca. I had been wondering about you. I am so sorry for the loss of life and property in your area. I am so glad that you are safe. It's wonderful that the community has banded together and helping each other. It sounds like you are going to have a busy summer. Check-in when you get a chance.

I will be praying for your community. We will look forward to having you back in the fall.

Rebecca - I was missing you! Thank you for sharing here, and I have prayed for you, your friends, and your community to feel God's presence through this difficult time. You have had an amazing homeschooling year with HOD in spite of all that has happened this year - I am celebrating that with you, while also praying for restoration of your community.

Love in Christ,
Julie

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers for our little town. To the person who asked, I am in Johnson County, TN. It is a VERY small town and there was much worse devastation in other places, that is for sure. This one has really rocked us because everyone here had a false sense of "security" since we are up in the mountains. We felt we were always excluded from the tornados. My best friend here and her family were hit, but their lives and home were spared. Those within view of her home were not as lucky. One of the deaths in our town was just a mile from her home. Had the tornado not crossed the main highway when it did, my home and family could have been the ones struggling to clean up. I know how very blessed we were...and I also see God's hand moving in this tragedy. I see lives being touched and changed both in those who experienced damages and those who did not. People are changing their priorities and some are giving so much of their own personal time and efforts. My pastor has really stepped out and been a true blessing to this community. He is not "from" here (moved here the same year we did), but he has been instrumental in getting the red cross in, the mobile laundry unit set up, clean up crews organized (and he goes with them to the sites and works right along beside them!) getting a donation area set up at the church so those in need can come there for anything from clothes to gloves..bathroom tissue to FEMA tarps!! It is good to see something positive in something so humbling and hard. God is at work and it is so evident!!!

Rebecca, prayers go out to you and your family, as well as those in your community and area ravaged by the tornadoes. Isn't it a blessing that HOD has been a constant during this time? Perhaps that will further seal that curriculum and experience in the lives of your children and in your family as well. I'll be continuing to pray for you, and it's nice to hear from you!