Homeschooling with a MISSION

Not too far from our home in the mountains is the “Christy” mission. As a young girl, “Christy” traveled from her home in Asheville, NC to the backwoods holler stuck just beyond the border into Tennessee, to teach the mountain children. Little Burl was first to introduce himself with a “I’ll swap ya howdys, teacher!” AbiNoelle loves listening to the audio version of this book, and especially likes imitating the holler drawl of Mr. Penland, the mailman, as he sends out his “Hallooo! U-nited States Maaaa-yullll! We did our own little swappin’ this week, and it turned out just as fun as them backwood’s howdys!

SWAP 1! – Technology! Miles were diminished with the touch of a button this week as we chatted with a Missionary friend. What a joy to share conversation with someone else who desires to bring wholesome, godly influences into the lives of their children. We swapped good ideas, beliefs, and resources! With an eagle’s eye, you have to look today for good things to bring into the lives of your children. The world is so full of evil, wickedness, sin…it can be a challenge to find audio, video, books, or educational resources that do not try to subtly or blatantly spread an ungodly agenda into your child’s mind and heart. As we chatted, we noted various “resources” that had to be nixed due to rock-type music, heathen practices, etc. Bad influences abound; yet, as parents, it is advantageous to have a pocket-full of goodly treasures to swap out for those negatives. We also swapped ideas on those things that had brought good, godly, wholesome enjoyment to our homes. AbiNoelle is certainly full of life and fun – nothing sedentary or seclusionary about her; therefore, our pockets had always better be full of some good fun to dish out!

Swap 2! AbiNoelle turned 4 years old! Birthday activities were in true four-year old style – VARIETY!vFrom the Dan’l Boone bow-and-arrow fun to all that glitters and sparkles, we celebrated with much fanfare. What little girl doesn’t like dress-up, the pretty, the fancy, the jewelry, the princess life? Unfortunately, today’s society emphasizes an artificial made-up beauty, entitlement, self-centeredness, even, at times, an evil or sinister path to achieve goals. We took AbiNoelle for a special fun play day,

and while, watching her on some of the play equipment, we overheard a mother tell her son that if he wanted something to drink he was going to have to be “sneaky and get it quick because it was against the rules to have something to drink in the play area.” Wow! – What a way to teach the sinister side of things! On this birthday, we chose to SWAP! AbiNoelle was delighted to dress-up like “Princess Faith” from the Princess Parables, a series of books that we found at our local bookstore. This series was written by a former missionary lady who also preferred to skip the world’s view of a princess while giving her daughters opportunity to play princess in a “daughter’s of the King” atmosphere. AbiNoelle jumped right in as we opened up her birthday celebration with a reading of “Princess Faith and the Mysterious Garden.” She finished the sentence as Mommy read the first page which introduced Princess Faith and her sisters as “daughters of the King.” (Ever since AbiNoelle accepted Jesus as her Saviour, she is always reminding us that she is a child of the King….so this story was perfect timing.) After reading the princess book, AbiNoelle donned her “Princess Faith” dress that Mommy made, her princess hat, and some sparkly rings and necklaces and with much princess-style jumped into a full day of #4 FUN!

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” I Cor. 10:31

Here’s a look at her Birthday Week of fun!

So with a couple of swaps we had a GREAT birthday week playing Princess Faith, Dan’l Boone, and a host of other fun times!