That song speaks of where I am now in my life! I guess I could have said that a while back, though, when the first of our children married!
I married Stuart Graydon 36 years ago, and we had 8 (yes, I said 8) children including boy-girl twins! In answer to your question of “Did you two plan on having a big family?” No, we did not plan on that but we have been so very blessed with the children that God gave us. In fact, I would have been bored with out all of them!!
We began homeschooling sixteen years ago, because like most of you, God called us to do it. He put the desire in me first. I made a list of the pros and cons of homeschooling (and list making was not my strong point at that time!). Stuart said he was willing for us to do it, and that at the end of the year if the house did not fall down around us, we would decide if we would go at it another year. Well, the house didn’t go to pot, because a seasoned homeschooler and dear friend of ours, came over and told me, ”If it takes a month or even two, you must teach your children chores or you will FAIL.” I took notes! I did just that, so we continued to homeschool with my husband becoming our best cheerleader!! He helped when he was able with higher math, field trips, and Bible times.
When I first began to teach my children, I had 6 children in 3 different schools, plus a 3 year old and a newborn. My life was chaos, until the Lord put it in my heart to bring them home. Ever since I can remember, I had always wanted to be a wife and mother, but until that time could come, I wanted to be a teacher. I went to college and earned a degree to become a teacher of English in secondary schools. I never did that, but I went back to college to become a Speech Therapist to elementary children. This equipped me for having a degree of confidence that I was able to teach my children of ALL ages! I have seen that nothing that I was educated to do was wasted, but rather that God has used it all to enable me to do what his will was—to teach my children myself!
I said at the beginning of this biography, that the times are changing. Well, they are. I now have only one child left to school, and he will graduate in May. I have three married children, 4 grandchildren, and 5 of my own children left to leave the nest. And just so you know, “there’s not one idiot in the bunch”! That’s a quote from the book “Cheaper by the Dozen” from the father speaking of his 12 children. To let you peak at what I mean: Of all 8 children, two have graduated from college with honors, one of which is currently working for a Chicago firm, another one is working at home for the same Chicago firm being a good wife and mother to their first daughter, three are currently in college doing excellently, and one was in college to become a nurse, when she was “met at the pass” by God who choose to have her marry and be a mother of 3. And as I said, I have only ONE left to school. It is actually sad to realize this!
Now if you think I am going to take all the credit for this, you are dead wrong!! God gave me a verse when I began this journey to homeschool. It was Isaiah 54:13 which says,” All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” I know that is exactly what He has done.
Literature/Book Club Coordinator Job Description:
§ Select reading materials for the club that stay within the HEAR Statement of Purpose and Belief and that are director approved
§ Plan meetings and activities
§ Inform the director of the club plans and include book descriptions
§ Set a sign-up date and schedule meeting dates and times
§ Inform interested families that the reading materials are ordered by the coordinator, but are purchased by the parents
§ When announcing club plans, explain that participating families will read the books at home, and the club members will meet together for various activities that are centered around the chosen book
§ In advance of the sign-up date, provide a book list, a review of each book, and book cost to the HEAR group
§ Locate and reserve, if necessary, an appropriate facility for meetings
§ Give the director necessary information for the HEAR calendar or website
§ Send email announcements to the HEAR leaders
§ Enlist volunteers for assistance as needed
§ Provide participation certificates
§ Leave the facility as it was before the meeting
§ Arrange for photographs of the participants to be taken and copies given to the Scrapbook/Yearbook Coordinator
§ Submit a bio and photograph to the Website Administrator
Note: The Literature/Book Club encourages family reading time with high quality reading materials. The coordinator’s activities help students to develop thinking skills through reading. The books, which are selected for the club, are usually Christian novels, Christian biography, Christian historical, children’s classic, or possibly one that is focused on building Christian character.