It's been busy at our house, getting ready for the ND Homeschool Convention in Minot, ND. This is the first year my husband Jim has been executive director of the Assoc., so it's the first time we've been intimately involved with the details of a convention. What an eye opener! Thankfully there is also a convention coordinator, so we have just been helping out however we can. Minot is about 100 miles from our place -- the closest a convention will ever get to us. It may also be the last time it is ever held in that city, since registrations are really down and a small number of vendors coming, probably due to gas prices and how far the city is "out in the boonies." I guess people prefer attending in one of the larger cities.
I remember the first homeschool convention we ever attended -- way back in March 1996. I remember dates according to who I was pregnant with or taking care of as a baby! That time I was newly pregnant with our son Andrew, and the convention was also held in Minot. The temps were not even rising above the zero mark, and Jim volunteered to take our 2 boys and get them settled in the car. I followed them out a short time later, and we headed out. When we got to a town about 2 hours away we stopped for gas, and I asked Jim where he had placed the boys' winter jackets. Jim had a sudden blank look on his face, and I discovered they were still hanging in our closet in Fargo. Thankfully, we called a friend that was also driving up later to attend the convention, and she was able to round up jackets, hats and mittens for us to use while up in Minot.
A week or so before the convention we were given a tape to listen to of the convention keynote speaker -- Jonathan Lindvall. That tape changed our lives, and I really think started us in thinking about moving to the country.
Mr. Lindvall had many topics that interested us greatly, such as sheltering our children, becoming debt free (including free of a mortgage), courtship and betrothal, home businesses, and others. We became convinced that God had a better way for us than what we had been planning. We had never heard of some of these topics before, and came away thoroughly challenged. It is interesting that since then we have heard of people who were turned off by his presentations, but it was enough for us to start looking to the Lord for what His will was for us in everything.
The leadership of the home school assoc. has been very wise in their choice of speakers, and every year we have come away with new challenges to what we have been thinking. It took me a while one convention to tune into the style of George Grant, but I came away with pages and pages of notes and the desire to read books with more meat in them. I think our most enjoyable time was listening to John Taylor Gatto confirm what we had been thinking. People complained afterward that he didn't present anything practical for the homeschooling families there, but Jim and I were thrilled to listen to him share his insights and experiences with us. This convention we are looking forward to what we will learn from Mr. Mark Hamby of
Lamplighter Publishing.
6 comments:
Oh Lynn, you will love what Mark Hamby has to say! We were privileged to hear him speak at several sessions in a conference last spring and I also have many of his tapes. He has a wonderful ministry and his story of how the Lord changed his relationship with his son will make you laugh as well as bring you to tears. I've enjoyed John Taylor Gatto's writing, but have never heard him speak before. Jonathan Lindvall has also been a great influence in many of our decisions, and Dwayne is a great fan of George Grant. He's quite the prolific writer! I can't wait to hear how the convention goes. When is it?
Reading your details about the homeschool convention brings me back many years ago. Here in New Jersey our convention isn't till May, the school year is coming to a close. We are visiting another college in April, this one is in Chicago. Hope all goes well with your convention.
Hi Emily, being in the background of the convention I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Hamby's demo tapes, and they were excellent. I'm anxious for my husband to hear his story about raising sheep, since we have 3 of our own! The convention is March 9-11. (Even our friend Paulette is doing a workshop: "The Truth About Lies: Will the 'Real' Wisdom Please Stand Up? Exploring Godly Knowledge for Families Concerning Birth, Death and Life in Between.")
Thanks, Patti for your comments. I hope you enjoy your trip to the "Windy City" (though I think our area is windier!)
Thanks Lynn for the info on convention.
It will be interesting to here how it goes.
I am sure you will have a long blog after that is over.
Lets hope the weather cooperates for the drive to Minot.
Gp B
Thanks for keeping us posted via your blog. This will be a busy week for you, we'll be anxious to hear from you when you get back from the convention.
I see Grandpa has commented earlier.
Where have I been? I've never heard of Mark Hamby, John Taylor Gotto or Jonathan Lindvall. I have heard of George Grant, and my daughter will be taking one of his classes!!
Mr. Linfvall's message of sheltering children, debt free, courtship and bethrothal, home business are all topics that our families in church are striving for and are convicted on, although we've all come to them from different avenues.
I'd be interested to hear more about the convention and the speaker!
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