heartofdakota.com

KristinBeth wrote:Shannon,
My heart goes out to you and your family over the loss of your precious boy. Praise the Lord that you have clung to Him and grown in your faith, and thanks be to God that you and your husband are believers so you have assurance that you will see your son again in due time. Thank you for blessing others even in the midst of your own heartache. I just wanted to reassure you that that it is okay to go a little off topic sometimes, there are some prayer warrior mommies on this board who are praying for you even now!

We'll be starting LHFHG in the fall, and are loving LHTH now. We can't wait to see what's in store for us. HOD has solid academics without exhausting the child - too much and they won't retain anything anyway! From what I've seen as I have pored over the entire catalog, it is just right! And I have researched them all (was a market researcher by trade before becoming a SAHM)

Wishing you the best with your move and your journey into HOD, and looking forward to getting to know you on the board.
Kristin

Thank you so much! It's refreshing to hear this from someone who used to research for a living! I myself have researched curriculum on and off for two years now, and I keep coming back to this website. It just seems right, and I know it has to be a God thing. He knows our needs and He knows this is a great fir for us! Take care.

mercymom wrote:Since you have experience with MFW 1st, you might be interested in my blog posts comparing HOD to MFW. We just switched last month from MFW 1st to HOD and couldn't be happier. It all planned out for me, easy to implement, but easy to add more and play around if I want to. Here is the first posts, there are a few more updates after that too - http://onelittlewordsheknew.blogspot.co ... ching.html

and (hugs), what a tough road to walk.

Hi there,

I actually found your post on here and I started following your blog just last week! Reading your blog reassured my decision that HOD is a great place to be! Thank you!

Welcome to Texas! It will be quite a change for you since you are from WA, but we love it. We are in Austin. And, I have an Evan as well! Only,
my Evan is 21 and is in Mexico right now volunteering on Red Cross ambulances-he's a paramedic.

We just switched to HOD and one of the manuals we are doing is Little Hearts. We LOVE it and I am so grateful to have this program. We've homeschooled for about 18 years and I've poured over curriculums and been to a million book fairs over the years and I've tried a ton of things. It is such a fantastic program, you will love it.

Blessings,
Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Thank so much for the encouragement! The more and more I get encouragement from HOD mommas, I get super excited!!!

Well, we are a family of changes, and this move to TX should not be too bad. I'm actually from TX, and my husband has lived there before. Previous to living here in WA (bear in mind we have only lived here 7.5 months), we lived in Las Vegas! Talk about an extreme change from desert climate to rainforest-sort of climate!

Have a blessed day!

Shannon - This post and its responses have touched my heart! We always pray for the Lord to lead whom He chooses to HOD, and as usual, He has done His best by leading you here. The ladies here are growing sisters in Christ, every day taking small steps to strive to become more and more like Him - how perfectly you fit in! I too have prayed for you - that the Lord would richly bless your faithfulness to Him and that He would continue to be at your side. LHFHG is a wonderful guide - such a solid start to homeschooling, and yet F-U-N too! The one year sweep of history really taught my dc that there is much that has happened between their two portions of history they were familiar with - Bible history and current history. In my little one's words - "WOW! A lot sure has happened since Adam and Eve!" LHFHG's sweep through history did an excellent job of (as Charlotte Mason would say) helping our dc to have "pegs" to hang their history on throughout the subsequent years of learning. You have many joy-filled days ahead of you with LHFHG - welcome - and we are so glad you are here!!!

Love in Christ,
Julie

Shannon,
The Lord bless you and your family! I'm sure you have been an inspiration to many people. God's Word says that He will not give us more than we can bear. You truly are His instrument. What a wonderful testimony!

You will love HOD! I am using LHFHG with our dd7 for 1st grade. I didn't feel she was ready for Beyond because of struggles in reading and writing. She has definitely come a long way since this year began. Since finding HOD on the internet a year ago, I have not had the desire to do anything else. I love the content. The Bible is excellent. My dd had already prayed to receive Christ at a summer camp, but I know there have been children saved because of HOD. LHFHG gives such a wonderful foundation. We are so glad to have you here!

my3sons wrote:Shannon - This post and its responses have touched my heart! We always pray for the Lord to lead whom He chooses to HOD, and as usual, He has done His best by leading you here. The ladies here are growing sisters in Christ, every day taking small steps to strive to become more and more like Him - how perfectly you fit in! I too have prayed for you - that the Lord would richly bless your faithfulness to Him and that He would continue to be at your side. LHFHG is a wonderful guide - such a solid start to homeschooling, and yet F-U-N too! The one year sweep of history really taught my dc that there is much that has happened between their two portions of history they were familiar with - Bible history and current history. In my little one's words - "WOW! A lot sure has happened since Adam and Eve!" LHFHG's sweep through history did an excellent job of (as Charlotte Mason would say) helping our dc to have "pegs" to hang their history on throughout the subsequent years of learning. You have many joy-filled days ahead of you with LHFHG - welcome - and we are so glad you are here!!!

Love in Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thank you so much for your kind words and prayers! I am so grateful for the Lord leading me here, and for all of the love I already feel from the lovely ladies on here!!!

I cannot wait to start LHFHG!

psreit wrote:Shannon,
The Lord bless you and your family! I'm sure you have been an inspiration to many people. God's Word says that He will not give us more than we can bear. You truly are His instrument. What a wonderful testimony!

You will love HOD! I am using LHFHG with our dd7 for 1st grade. I didn't feel she was ready for Beyond because of struggles in reading and writing. She has definitely come a long way since this year began. Since finding HOD on the internet a year ago, I have not had the desire to do anything else. I love the content. The Bible is excellent. My dd had already prayed to receive Christ at a summer camp, but I know there have been children saved because of HOD. LHFHG gives such a wonderful foundation. We are so glad to have you here!

It is so true that the Lord never gives us more than we can handle! I truly learned that on that very sad night back in June when my son left this world to meet Jesus. Proverbs 3:5-6 truly helped me through those first rough weeks.

I truly hope that my desire to research and buy curriculum will fade once we start HOD. I have researched a lot, and have bought a lot of stuff! LOL I'm ready to settle and have a comfort zone in my homeschooling, and HOD just has that warm fuzzy feeling. Perhaps it's the Lord and all of you lovely ladies that have been so kind? Thank you for the welcome!

This post and the replies have been such a sweet and gentle blessing. Julie is right, we are trying daily to become more like Him. This is a wonderful example of the love and support you can find on this board through HOD. LHFHG has been a true relief to me in my 1st year of hsing, I couldn't recommend it more.

Shannon, reading about your tragedy is a reminder to me to appreciate my dc. I take so much for granted sometimes. Thank you for sharing! I am praying for you and your family. Your strength is remarkable. Keep on keeping on for the Lord!

Shannon,

Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your story with us and letting each of us uplift you in thought and in prayer. As sisters in Christ, we already have a common bond and your link with heaven is all the stronger through your precious son. We look forward to getting to know you better and pray that your journey in LHFGH will be a blessed one. We're glad you're here!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie wrote:Shannon,

Thank you so much for sharing a bit of your story with us and letting each of us uplift you in thought and in prayer. As sisters in Christ, we already have a common bond and your link with heaven is all the stronger through your precious son. We look forward to getting to know you better and pray that your journey in LHFGH will be a blessed one. We're glad you're here!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie,

Thank you for the welcome, and for you blessing us with HOD! God indeed sent me here, and I am ever so thankful! I'm ready to get moved and settled so we can get started on LHFGH.

Indeed you are correct...my link with heaven is stronger than ever. I think we as Christians are excited to go to heaven and think about heaven sometimes. I can tell you that having a child in heaven makes that incentive to meet Jesus and be in eternity even greater! I think about heaven and how wonderful it's going to be (in His glory) just about everyday. I don't feel as attached to earth as I used to feel (of course, I want to live to be old and see my son grow up and meet my future grandchildren) because I am more excited than ever to meet Jesus.

I am glad to be a part of HOD!!! I love you ladies.

ForHisGlory wrote:Proverbs 3:5-6 truly helped me through those first rough weeks.

I'm so sorry for your loss. We're doing LHFHG and that was our memory verse for this week. I've been listening to my girls tell me this verse all week and now I can imagine them saying it later in life when things are hard and not in our understanding. Wherever God leads you, please feel all the love and support you need to go on your path.

Shannon, I also wanted to take a moment to welcome you to HOD & let you know that I, too, am uplifting you and your precious family in prayer!
I look forward to journeying through LHFHG with you next year, as our Kindergartner will also be starting in the Fall!
May God richly bless you, as you continually seek Him & His strength... to God be the glory!
Jessica

Thank you ladies! Proverbs 3:5-6 is a precious verse to us. Not only was it Ethan's favorite verse (besides Matthew 7:12), but it helped us to make sense of a tragedy that didn't make sense. Indeed we all need Proverbs 3:5-6 sometime in our life, because our lives will not ever be perfect, and we often forget to lean on the Lord. We must remember to lean on Him always!

Thanks again for the warm welcome and heartfelt prayers! I look forward to keeping in touch via the message board.

Oh...I have been meaning to put my blog page on my signature on here. www.wallacefamilyhomeschool.blogspot.com

I just saw your blog address and saw that your husband's name is Josh. My daughter just married a Josh Wallace and we live in Texas.

Nancy