2007 Times To Speak

Between us, Melanie and I had about seventeen speaking events this year, which is about par for the past few. I've expanded out my list of preaching dates this time (last year I just listed it once, though I taught several times during the year). This doesn't include some routine support group discussions or meetings of one sort or another, just the formal invitations and prepared messages.

Hal & Melanie

2/8/07 - Roberson County Homeschool Support Group, Lumberton, NC
5/25-25/07 - NCHE Annual Conference, Winston-Salem, NC
9/8/07 - Home Educators of Rainbow Forest, Troutville, VA

Hal

1/21/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Matthew 22:23-33
4/21/06 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Matthew 26:31-35
5/1/07 - Lighthouse Christian Homeschool Association
5/13/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Matthew 26:57-68
6/24/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Matthew 27:32-56
7/15/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel
9/16/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Nehemiah 6
10/21/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Nehemiah 10
11/25/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Titus 1:1-4
12/23/07 – South Smithfield Baptist Church, Titus 2:11-15

Melanie

5/24/07 - NCHE Annual Conference, Winston-Salem, NC
10/6/07 - NCHE Eastern Support Group Leadership Conference, Wilson, NC
10/8/07 - Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), Angier, NC
10/27/07 - NCHE Western Support Group Leadership Conference, Charlotte, NC

Some feedback here and here - thanks, y'all. And here's last year's list.

Workshop info on having large families

Here are a few resources to go along with our workshop "Yes, We Know What Causes That",

North Carolinians for Home Education Annual Conference
Session 11 -- Saturday, May 24, 2007


Theodore Roosevelt on a tour of the Midwest:

"Three cheers for Mr. and Mrs. Bower and their really satisfactory American family of twelve children!"

Books to Help You Make the Decision or Explain It To Others

A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ by Rick and Jan Hess
Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says About Having Children by Nancy Campbell
The Bible and Birth Control by Charles Provan
The Way Home: Beyond Feminism and Back to Reality by Mary Pride

Email Groups to Encourage You

Quiver-Full! is an email discussion group for those committed to or interested in the Lord planning their family.

MOMYS Mothers of Many Young Siblings is for mothers who have ever had four or more children eight years and younger at the same time -- others can subscribe as "read only MOMYS". This one is a great encouragement and you know the advice comes from people who really know.

Biblical Resources - "To the Law and to the testimony!" (NKJV unless noted)

Man and woman were created to be fruitful

Genesis 1:27-28 - The Mandate from Creation, before the Fall
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; ...

Genesis 9:1, 7 - Repeated to Noah after the Flood
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth ... And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”

Genesis 35:10-11 - Repeated at the establishment of God's covenant people
And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

Children are a primary purpose of marriage

Malachi 2:14-15
Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.

Children are a blessing and a gift from God
Psalm 127:3-5
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

God's people should expect to have children from Him

Psalm 128:1-4
Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.

Leviticus 26:9 - God's promise to His people
"For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you."

1 Chronicles 25:5 - Seventeen children given as a special blessing
All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer to exalt him according to the words of God, for God gave fourteen sons and three daughters to Heman. (NASB)

God provides for His children

Psalm 37:25
I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.

Raising a family is meant for hard times, too

Exodus 1:7-9 - Israel as a refugee nation in a time of famine
But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ... And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we ... "

Jeremiah 29:5-7 - God's word to His people carried off to Babylonian exile
"Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace."

Speaking at Lighthouse

This evening I was privileged to speak at the monthly meeting of Lighthouse Christian Homeschool Association, in Wake Forest. I've had the opportunity to meet with them and their leaders several times and they are one of my favorite groups in the Triangle. Thanks to all fifty of you for having me over!

I promised the group I'd post the link to the two articles I mentioned, so here they are:

"North Carolina's Wall of Educational Separation"
The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty (Foundation for Economic Education), July 2005

"Homeschooling in North Carolina"
Family North Carolina (N.C. Family Policy Council), October/November 2006

And some other links of interest:

North Carolinians for Home Education

• Statewide homeschool news blog
• 2007 Conference Page
• 2007 Conference Speakers
• Volunteer for Conference! Collect valuable benefits!

A time to speak, and time to be silent

I maintain a section of NCHE's website for statewide news and events, including an "Upcoming Events" entry which lists NCHE functions or outside occasions where board members will be speaking and representing the organization. We're on the list, too, so I thought it would be interesting to pull the last two years' archives and add a couple of non-homeschooling events we did, too. Although I'm doing fewer homeschooling events now that someone else is in charge of NCHE, I am preaching at our church on a fairly frequent basis. John did a couple of presentations in here, too.

2006

Hal & Melanie
Fayetteville, NC - HOME Support Group
Winston-Salem, NC - 22nd Annual NCHE Conference and Book Fair
Clayton, NC - Johnston County Home Educators Graduation and End of Year Promotion
Sumter, SC - S. C. Home Educators Association 2006 Convention

Hal
Raleigh, NC - Leadership Raleigh
Garner, NC - Bountiful Harvest Homeschoolers
Wilson, NC - Sallie B. Howard Charter School
Smithfield, NC - South Smithfield Baptist Church

Melanie
Sanford, NC - Christian Home Educators of Central Carolina, Homeschool Conference and Book Fair
Clayton, NC - Johnston County Home Educators Books

2005
Hal & Melanie
Wilson, NC - Wilson Area Home Educators
Winston-Salem, NC - 21st Annual NCHE Conference and Book Fair
Sumter, SC - S. C. Home Educators Association 2005 Convention
Clayton, NC - Johnston County Home Educators Book Fair and Conference
Greenville, NC - HOME Homeschool Orientation and Mini-Conference

Hal
Wake Forest, NC - Lighthouse Christian Homeschool Association
Raleigh, NC - Leadership Raleigh
Raleigh, NC - John Locke Foundation

Melanie
Clayton, NC - New Support Group, Hocutt Memorial Baptist Church
Smithfield, NC - Public Library of Smithfield and Johnston County
Lumberton, NC - Robeson County Home Educators Expo
Wilson, NC - NCHE Eastern Support Group Leadership Conference
Montreat, NC - NCHE Western Support Group Leadership Conference

Thoughts on graduation

When God led Moses and the nation of Israel out of Egypt, He set in motion the fulfillment of a promise made to Abraham more than five hundred years before – the promise of a land for His people.

When they arrived in that land, God gave them markers, both for boundaries and for memorials. Joshua had the elders of Israel build a marker at the point where they crossed over the Jordan, so that “when your sons ask in time to come ... you shall answer them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut before the ark of the covenant of the Lord ... and these stones shall be for a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.'” (Joshua 4:6-7)

They were warned not to remove a neighbor's landmark, “which those in the past have set in your inheritance, which you shall inherit in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 19:14)

Four hundred years later, Solomon counseled his son, “Do not remove the old landmark which your fathers have set.” (Proverbs 22:28;)

Tonight we celebrate a milestone. This is the end of an academic year, for most of you students, and the completion of high school studies for these graduates.

Landmarks are important, but landmarks are not the land. When God gave memorials and landmarks to the children of Israel, those were not the promise. The landmark is not the land, it is just a marker. The promise was not for a memorial – the memorial was for the promise. In the same way, a diploma is not the education. It simply represents the completion of part of the journey. It is a memorial of many years of study, of teaching, of learning, of plain hard work.

But as homeschoolers, we know that the diploma is not the goal. The goal is not preparing for tests, or completing time in classes, or collecting certificates. The goal of homeschooling is an education, and that is never complete until we receive it in heaven from our Lord, the one true Teacher of us all.

The Lord says, “Do not let the wise glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty glory in his might; do not let the rich glory in his riches; but let him who glories, glory in this – that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, doing kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these I delight, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Because ultimately, our purpose in life is not in reaching milestones. Our purpose is to glorify God, in our study, in our instruction, in whatever work He calls us to do; and to live our lives in such a way as to enjoy Him, now and forever.

But along the way to forever, this is an important night. We have reached a milestone. God Himself gives us milestones so we can see our progress and reflect on His care and provision. This is better than a mountain top, because from mountain tops we always come down. From where we stand tonight, whether as graduate or continuing student, God calls us to continue upwards and onwards, to understand and know Him, and to enjoy Him forever!

These are remarks given at the Johnston County Home Educators graduation ceremony in June of this year. It's now time for December graduations so it's back in season again.