The journey to where I find myself today started over 21 years ago when God answered the Hannah-like cry of my heart and allowed me to become a mom to beautiful twin daughters, Emma and Heather.
As our daughters approached preschool my husband and I felt led to homeschool them rather than put them in a public school. I felt so overwhelmed and under qualified because, being a planner, I thought I had to have everything figured out from preschool to college before they even started.
We decided to take the plunge anyway and I became our girls’ primary teacher while my husband, Rick – who called himself “the substitute” – would step in when I had a work appointment. (Yes, I was an active real estate agent as well. Crazy, I know – but we were also on the Dave Ramsey gazelle-intense get out of debt plan at the same time. 😉 )
As we homeschooled our schedules stayed very full with activities, work, as well as volunteering at our church. My husband was involved with men’s ministries while I was involved with children’s ministry including being a Sunday school teacher, Awana secretary, as well as the decorations coordinator for VBS. (Talk about an unforeseen event because I can’t even draw stick people! 😂)
What we learned in those busy years is that God really does equip those He calls to homeschool. He also brings along guides to help along the way. We were so blessed to have some amazing homeschoolers in our family as well as at our church in Centennial, CO who helped us throughout those years.
One decision we made early on was to seek God each year to see if we were to continue homeschooling. One year He made it clear we were to trust Him and place them in public school. I didn’t understand that direction and, honestly, I argued with Him for months about it. Yet in the end we surrendered to His leading.
The year our girls were seniors in high school it became clear why…you see, my husband got sick. That year we started on a journey to multiple doctors and multiple tests to find out what was wrong. Three months before our daughters graduated from high school he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder that was attacking and destroying his lungs. Over the next few months we balanced his multiple hospitalizations with the girls’ final high school activities, graduation, and getting ready for college.
Two short months after God had us surrender our daughters to His care at out-of-state colleges, He healed my husband – my love, my Boaz – by calling him to live in Heaven. In the following year, He then asked me to surrender our home, my career, most of our possessions and our beloved church family when He called me to move across the country from the mountains of Colorado to the beaches of Alabama.
The grief, tears and pain in that season is truly indescribable. Yet, through it all, I chose to trust in a God who became my Abba, my closest guide and friend. I believed He wasn’t done with me, that He still had a future for me and He promised it was good. I prayed and watched for Him to light the next step on my path.
In the early summer of 2023, God brought me to Homeschool Giveaways. The founding owner had felt called to go another direction and after prayer, I felt like Abba was asking me to go into my new chapter by going back to a previous one – homeschool. But this time as the owner and steward of a website dedicated to helping other homeschoolers.
I’m just at the beginning of this new chapter and yet finding all that I’ve learned as a former homeschooler and years as a children’s ministry volunteer have laid a great foundation for this season. My prayer is to be a guide and a support to you as I previously received support. The team and I are committed to helping you along your homeschool journey through sharing giveaways, freebies, and resources. But maybe – most importantly – we hope to provide encouragement through the days, weeks and years to come.
I firmly believe that each of the children you are homeschooling are unique masterpieces of God. They have each been created with gifts, interests and talents (Eph 2:10) You also have unique gifts, interests and talents that are just what they need to guide them through their schooling years. You CAN do this and we are here to help!
Please know that I pray for you. I ask our Abba to uphold you with His strength, to give you wisdom as you direct and teach your children. I ask that He abundantly bless you and your families as you homeschool. If HSG is of help to you then I ask that you visit us whenever you are looking for a printable or idea, to subscribe to our newsletters to be connected with more resources and to tell your homeschooling friends about us. We would also love if you would pray for it, for our team and for me as well. We ask for wisdom, for direction and that God will abundantly bless HSG so it can continue to help you and other homeschooling families for years to come.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. If you would like to learn more about the rest of the amazing homeschoolers and companies who have contributed to HSG then please click on the meet the team button below. May Abba bless and keep you always!
