MHEA Homeschool Conference

This weekend Raeley and I went to the MHEA conference and it was a great experience. It was small and much less hectic or exhausting as the conference I am used to going to in Houston, TX. I was encouraged by the speakers - all of them, and took something away from every talk I went to. The Teen Track was led by a lawyer from HSLDA. It covered amendments and the teens went through the process used by our congress on making amendments. Raeley was fascinated with the process.

The main speaker was Doug Phillips from Vision Forum. He had great visuals and his talks were interesting.

I was not able to get all of my curriculum because the exhibit hall was small. I still do not know what exactly I am going to use for Raeley, but there are some great choices out there. I have a good feel for what she would prefer, and she is very excited about starting highschool on her own, totally independant.

I was able to visit with some families who mentored Mark and I in college, families who homeschooled, and watching their children when we were in college made us conviced that homeschooling is what we wanted for our children. I ran into some of Mark's buddies from college also.

Some valuable lessons that I took away with me:

Childhood is short. Make sure children live their childhood! Even if we say that childhood last till 20, and a person lives till 80, only 1/4 of their life is spent in childhood.

Proverbs 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

It seems simple that the verse would stick out to me more than anything else in Doug Phillips talk, but that's the power of the bible, and sounding nice is something I need to work on with my children.

Doug gave a talk on a woman's relationship with her husband, and he brought history in it, the strength and serenity of wedded bliss of our forefathers. He quoted from a man, , in the book The Family. I am reading the book now and I appreciate what I've read so far.

Being there made me miss the conference in Houston, the huge room with tons and tons of vendors, the speakers that come every year, ten or more choices an hour, running from class to class, finding time to frantically go through the exhibit hall. Big difference, I know, but still I miss it. I miss running into all my friends that I've known for so long, too. Melanie, Cindy, Crystal, Becky, Karin, Alisha, the Tomball crew, hugs to all, and have fun in two weeks without me! I miss you guys!