A Praise

 

This spring I came across Monica's posts about Classical Conversations.  I thought, "What an incredible way to do homeschooling!  I wish we had a group like that here."  I even mentioned to my husband that I'd be willing to move, from my beloved hometown that is awesome, if we could go somewhere where there was a group like this.  I have enjoyed Monica's posts for years and have often wondered how she accomplishes so much so I was intrigued by her statements about how much CC had simplified her homeschooling.

 

 

About that time, a friend in a nearby town started a community fb page for homeschoolers.  I saw a couple of other gals on there talking about CC.  One mentioned wanting to start a CC group.  In our county, you usually recognize fellow homeschoolers' names, even if you don't know them well. 

I didn't recognize her name.

Ever the optimist, cue sarcastic tone, I was sure that:

 

A.  The gal starting it wouldn't be someone in our town, but one far away.

B.  She wouldn't be doing a group for my children's ages.

C.  She wouldn't really start it, because so many people I've known have had good intentions but no follow-through.  I knew it would be a LOT of work for someone to start.

 

 

Imagine my surprise when Kristi and I met at a lovely homeschool mom's tea party and discovered that:

 

A.  She had just moved to our town and was VERY serious about starting a CC group.

B.  She had been praying for people to join and get on board since before her move.

C.  She was starting a group for my kid's ages, as well as for young teens.

D.  She's not afraid of hard work and has done an excellent job thus far of setting up a CC group here that as of today has 7 families committed and signed up for this school year.

E.  She attends my church, where our CC classes will be held, and I didn't even realize it because our church is growing so much that we hadn't run into each other yet.

F.  She also just so happens to be nice, funny, inspiring, godly, fun to hang out with, and has kids that love my kids....a cool bonus!

 

 

My husband, being the tightwad conscientious provider and budget-er that he is, was concerned about the cost of tuition.  I told him from the beginning, "If God wants us to do this He'll provide."  I suspect he intensely dislikes it when I pull out that card, because there's really nothing more to say after that.  *smile*

 

 

A few months ago, Josiah strained a ligament in his shoulder and we submitted the need to our health costs sharing group, Samaritan Ministries.  We weren't sure if the need would be covered.  It wouldn't have been a devastating financial loss to us if it hadn't been covered, but when you are on a tight budget, it's definitely hard to see any amount of money go.  We paid his outrageously overpriced bills for something that turned out to be a minor injury, hoping that someday we'd be reimbursed, but not certain of it.

 

Wouldn't you know that God would work it all out perfectly in just the right timing.  It just so happened that this past month Josiah's need was published for sharing, and in the last two weeks we have received sweet cards of encouragement and checks in the mail from fellow believers around the country.  Since our CC paperwork and tuition is due this week, I finally took the time to tally up the checks and add up the numbers.

 

The results?

 

Today we deposited $1,445 into our checking account.

Tuition, fees, and registration for our 3 young children to attend CC added up to $1,300.

The kids' textbook, tin whistles, and memory cards added up to $148 with shipping.

Therefore, we only had to shell out a whopping $1 per kid for them to get an amazing education this year that will simplify our homeschooling.

Because I'm tutoring a Foundations class and getting paid for it, at the end of the year we should break even on tuition, meaning technically our kids' education will have cost us nothing but my teaching labor.

 

HURRAY!

 

 

What's also neat is that God has provided a way for another friend of mine with a limited income to be a part of CC too.  She will be able to work in the nursery, watching the little kids age 3 and under while we are doing lessons, and she will hopefully break even on her kids' tuition money and the gas money it will take her to drive in from an hour away each week!  (She lives at the honest-to-goodness-end-of-the-earth, middle-of-nowhere, in the actual shadow of the Oregon Trail, but that is another story...)

I am so excited about her being a part of our group, because she is someone I completely trust with my precious little girl.

 

 

 

I love seeing how God works amongst the little details of our lives to reveal His presence to us.

A sign hangs on my bedroom wall, "Where God guides, He provides."

Truth!