I'm so excited to welcome you to the HOH Blog! Truth be told I'm merging a blog I started almost 10 years ago when I was homeschooling 7 children ages 1 to 15. Life was busy in a different way back then, but I thought HOH members might glean some thoughts and tips from what I wrote way back then. Now that I've got Heart of Homeschooling running smoothly, I thought I would start up the Blog writing again. I love to write about family, homeschooling, and what God is doing in my life. My hope and prayer is that this will be a blessing for you and an encouragement in your homeschool journey.
Since this is the first post officially for Heart of Homeschooling I want to first of all welcome all of you! If you are new and haven't joined our Facebook group, please do so today. You can join HERE. Please also like our Facebook PAGE. You can find out information about our courses on our website: www.heartofhomeschooling.org.
The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was a little about me and why I created Heart of Homeschooling. I chose this picture because I wouldn't have been who I am today without my sweet hubby, the love of my life. I am more in love with this guy today more than ever and I can't wait to share with you my secret...stay tuned to Part 2 of the story.
Oh boy, where to start? I guess I can go back to when I was a teenager. I want to go back that far so I can share how God perfectly placed me in situations to direct my path and grow me spiritually to prepare me for the next place he was going to take me all without me knowing this was happening...LOL.
So, when I was a teen my mom was a church secretary and I was the oldest with two little brothers that were 10 and 12 years younger than I was. There was a Christian school at the church and when I was about 14 or 15 I started working in the "After School Program." I loved it and it was then that God planted the seed of teaching in my heart, but I didn't know it yet. I also loved to plan and listen when someone was going through a hard time so I thought I would be a psychologist.
I transferred from Orange Coast College to Point Loma Nazarene University my Sophomore year and met the love of my life in the second month there. I was a Psychology major on my way to a doctorate. However, God had other plans. My roommate was on the Teacher path and would talk to me about her love of education. Well, fast forward a couple of years and now I'm engaged to my love, realizing I really just want to be a mommy and wife so I quickly change gears to the Teacher Credential program which I finish after our wedding adding one more year to my studies. This worked out fine as we got to live in the brand new Married Housing condos for $500/month with an ocean view! Wow, we had no idea what God was blessing us with!
During my 2nd Student Teaching assignment I learned about a little school in Kane'ohe that needed a 5th grade teacher for the following year. After a one hour phone interview I was hired and we were moving to Hawaii which happened to be both of our dreams since we were little. Coincidence? No way! That's how God works. He planted the seeds of a love of the islands in our hearts before we even met.
We moved to O'ahu in August and the first Sunday church service a guy hired my husband to do construction and we were set. I worked 2 years teaching with a beautiful ocean view from my classroom and students who loved to learn. We found out we were expecting our first baby and made the very difficult decision to move back to the mainland to be near family. It was a decision that we knew was the right one, but will forever feel sad about. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't miss Hawaii.
We moved in with my in-laws when Emily was about 6 weeks with very little money, but a lot of love. We ended up living with them for 9 months and they were so gracious to welcome us. That's what family is for, right?
Then Wes got a job in Santa Cruz. All I knew of Santa Cruz was from "The Lost Boys" movie. I asked him if there was any chance that vampires really lived there...LOL. We were moving again in June of 1996. My biggest concern was finding a community and I found one right away at a wonderful church called Twin Lakes. We got plugged in right away and about a year later I was expecting our second baby girl, Sarah. About this time I started thinking I would start tutoring to help make ends meet and we were able to buy a 2 bedroom mobile home within a walk from the ocean. It was a sweet starter home and the amazing thing in Santa Cruz is that mobile homes actually increase in value.
That first home that we owned was the best. We had a little yard, we were at the end of a cul-de-sac, a community pool, and walking distance to pizza and the beach. AMAZING. We felt so blessed. In 1999 I found out I was expecting again, due in July of 2000 and we began looking for a bigger house. You see the mobile home park had a rule you couldn't have more than 4 people in a 2 bedroom unit, so we were going to be in trouble soon.
We soon found out God had a plan the whole time...but I think I will make this a to be continued since it's getting a little long. I just have to say that God is so amazing. When we put our faith, hope, and trust in Him, He will not let you down. He worked some pretty awesome miracles for us to move not once but twice to our dream homes and, again, we had no idea how it was going to happen.
Next week I will continue the rest of the story.
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