Raising Arrows: Homeschooling with Purpose

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

Some of you may have detected a note of melancholy here at Raising Arrows lately. Some may have chalked it up to the 4 year anniversary of Emily’s death coming soon, or the 5 year anniversary of my father’s death the week after, or the miscarriage back at Thanksgiving. While all of these are certainly at the forefront of my mind, there is another burden.

At Christmas, I found out I was surprisingly pregnant again. We were elated and I was excited to think I would have a new little one to hold and such a wonderful story to tell. Last Tuesday, my wonderful story died.

Baby’s heart was no longer beating.

The morning sickness and exhaustion continue to plague me as the numbers have not fallen enough to stop that.

And next weekend, we move.

A few nights ago I found myself asking God how much one person could take before they broke in two.

I am broken. But as I said in my Mom in the Headlights post, perhaps I am right where God wants me.

I don’t like being needy. I don’t like knowing so much about death. I don’t like all the waiting and all the pain and stress. However, I’ve noticed as I’ve shared my burden with others, God has given me more and more peace, more and more strength to keep going.

I cry, but I am comforted. I am tired, but I rest. I am weak, but He is strong.

Weekends in the Word is a ministry of Raising Arrows meant to offer a time of worship and encouragement specifically for those mommies who find themselves, due to circumstances beyond their control, unable to attend worship services with other believers. However, all are welcome here each weekend to feast on His Word.

convention notebook inside

Last year, I decided to create a Homeschool Convention Notebook at the prodding of Betty from Peace Creek on the Prairie. I’m so glad I did!

I found in my stash of notebooks (because every good homeschool mom has a stash of notebooks) a white notebook that had a clear cover where a cover page could be inserted. Since most homeschool conventions hand out session schedules, that’s where I put my session schedule for each day, so I had it at a glance. No need to open anything and search.

convention notebook cover

I also marked every session I was interested in. I starred it if I was interested, circled it if that was my definite choice, and wrote “Tape” next to any I intended to purchase the recording for (even though technically no one uses tapes anymore!)

Since I was speaking at our local convention, I put my speaking notes at the front of the notebook, followed by notebook paper to take notes on and a folder for loose papers from vendors and speakers sessions.

In the back cover, I put my list of items I was looking for. Again, it was quick to glance at in the always-crowded vendor hall. Last year, I didn’t have a lot of curriculum needs since we decided to create our own history/literature program.

The Teach Them Diligently Convention in March will be our first homeschool convention of the year (yes, sometimes we go to more than 1!) However, I anticipate this notebook being helpful for the 2:1 Blogging Conference in April too!