To answer the question being asked by a lot of people, here’s why we decided to homeschool Corbin. It’s a multifaceted answer, so just bear with me.

I started thinking about it a long time ago. I know upon first glance, it seems crazy to pull him out of what is truly one of the best public school districts in the country. The Woodlands schools are amazing. The teachers and staff at McCullough Jr. High are awesome. Corbin’s grades were fine, his behavior was fine, his social life amongst the 2000+ other 7th and 8th graders was fine, his enjoyed school just fine. See what happened in that equation? Corbin was doing fine. I want more than fine for him. I don’t want him to spend two hours sitting on a bus, fiddle around at school all day, then come home at 5pm every evening and do monotonous homework until bedtime. After all of that time spent on ‘learning’ I want more than ‘fine’ results. I don’t want him to just float through the rat race. Corbin is great at math, great at reading, great at writing, and has a very creative and entrepreneurial mindset. Despite his potential, there is nothing in his academic record (other than the standardized test scores that were excellent) that would back that up. I want Corbin to have the freedom to develop his strengths to the fullest extent. I’m dedicated to put the resources in front of him to take him there. It is foolish for me to expect the public school system to cater to his individual needs. If Corbin was a discipline problem, or had some kind of learning trouble, the school would have to make accommodations for him. Since he doesn’t have any of those problems, I could easily see him just coasting through school. I take responsibility to offer him more than that.

On top of all of the vast resources online, the resources here in The Woodlands for homeschoolers would seriously blow your mind. There are just too many to even start to take advantage of them all. On top of all of the resources at hand, there is also Corbin’s home environment. You all know that David and I are both devoted lifetime learners ourselves. At home Corbin has always been creative, engaged, and enthusiastic about learning new things, but when he would step into the school – a curtain would just go up. He was just so disconnected, and always concerned about what everyone else was doing. It was my fear that, as the years progressed, he would be more swayed by peer pressure than any of my other kids have ever been. Projecting his current trajectory, I could see trouble ahead.

So anyway, there it is. I researched and prayed and I really couldn’t find a solidly unselfish reason for not doing it – so we did it. And there it is. Time will tell if it will work. School wasn’t working either so it seems like a good bet. In just one week he has read 3 books, written a persuasive essay on one of the books, completed several hours of math on Khan Academy, taken a field trip to the Blue Bell factory in Brenham, visited a car dealership to photograph cars, earned his diy.org photography badge, completed 8 days worth of classes in an online class that teaches him independent study skills and how to learn, done 4+ hours of volunteer work, watched 2 documentaries about Vikings in preparation for his upcoming History unit, learned how to make shoes, learned how to use a DSLR camera, learned to use the Dewey Decimal System in the library, learned how radio frequencies are used to control remote controlled toys, learned about chemical reactions using vinegar and baking soda, completed and matted a drawing he wants to give someone for a Christmas gift, and we haven’t even started his actual curriculum yet. From the time he gets up in the morning, until he goes to bed at night, learning is part of his world. In one week – he’s already a totally different kid. He’s more relaxed, inquisitive, and happy than he’s ever been. I’m good with that.

Thank You

By: Wendy

Radiant, Table Group Prayer Leader

 

Read God’s Word

 

James 5:14-20

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. ¹⁷ Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! ¹⁸ Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

Restore Wandering Believers

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, ²⁰ you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

 

Reflect and Respond

 

As some of you probably know, writing this is a bit challenging for me. I’m a goofball. I giggle at inappropriate things. Solemnity is not my strong suit. I’m going to do my best though, so that I might convey my story of heartfelt love and adoration for Jesus­—who has pulled me out of the gutter, scraped off some of the muck, and handed me over to you folks to deal with.

 

I wasn’t raised in church. I had no Abraham in my childhood. As a senior in high school, I got pregnant with twins and married my high school sweetheart. None of this destroyed anyone’s dreams for my future, or really even disappointed my family. Nobody really had any plans for me other than God. All throughout school I was in gifted and talented, advanced, honors, and whatever classes. At school I was told I was part of the ‘cream of the crop’ etc. I never once believed any of that. Nobody from my family ever even looked at my report cards after I stopped losing my baby teeth. I did attend church with a friend once. The most memorable thing about that experience was that they took up an offering for a VCR for the youth department. We didn’t have a VCR at home, so I thought it was mean that they wanted to take my money to buy one for the church. (Man, this story is turning out to be a real bummer. Trust me, it eventually gets better.)

 

Like me, the boy I married brought plenty of baggage of his own into our marriage. Other than the kids, the best thing he ever gave me was his older sister. She is what I now refer to as a ‘Catholic Baptist.’ It confounded me that this seemingly intelligent person would spend her time attending bible studies, listening to Christian music, and telling me that she would pray for me. I am fairly certain that through her intercession God ultimately saved me.

 

When my twin sons were two, they were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. A few years later, we had another son. Shortly after he was born, my marriage fell apart. My ex-husband stopped working, and started using heroin (along with any other drug he could get his hands on.) I had never even seen heroin in person. I had no idea what to do. I was 25, with three kids, no education or marketable skills—and now I was alone. Meanwhile my sister-in-law continued praying. She never showed up on my doorstep with pamphlets or tried to bully me into realizing that God was there. In her graceful wisdom, she just kept on praying.

 

Near the end of my marriage, we signed the twins up for Cub Scouts at a small United Methodist church. When our Cub Scout pack attended activities (like Scout Sunday etc.) with the church members, my opinion of Christians started to change. They went out of their way to make me feel loved and welcomed. I began attending Sunday school with a few of the other Cub Scout leaders, and things began clicking for me. One day my bible study leader (who is now my husband) loaned me the book Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. That’s when the penny dropped. When I finished the book, Christianity seemed plausible for the first time. I started inhaling C.S. Lewis books like they were pecan fudge brownies.

 

Fast forward eleven years, I’m now 36, my twin Eagle Scouts are away at college. They volunteer in the community, and play in the praise and worship band at Brenham UMC. My baby is twelve and a big junior high man at McCullough Jr. High. For fun, my former Sunday school teacher/husband and I now regularly geek out on the bible, C.S. Lewis, Tim Keller, Søren Kierkegaard, and Dietrich Bonhoffer. I have a huge vegetable garden, and I love making jams and pickles. I still have a whole lifetime of spiritual development ahead of me, however looking back over the past decade, it is undeniable that God’s fingerprints are all over my life. The best part is that I know my ex-sister-in-law is still praying for me, now I just pray right back at her.

 

The message I desperately want to convey is: never give up on that family member you are praying for today. God is working on them. On behalf of all of those people in our lives who are struggling and broken, thank you.

 

Read Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10

What does the Centurion ask Jesus to do for his servant?

 

 

 

What does Jesus say about the faith of the Centurion, and what does he do?

 

 

 

This interaction between Jesus and the Centurion shows that it pleases Jesus when we put our faith in His authority to work in the lives of people we care for. It tells us that it isn’t through our works, but through total faith and trust in Him that he will bless people through our intercession.

 

Have you ever felt it was futile to continue to pray for someone who seemed             like they weren’t receptive to God’s blessings?

 

 

 

Do you remember a moment when Christianity really started to seem             plausible to you?

 

 

 

Is there someone whom you think may have interceded on your behalf and             perhaps changed the course of your life?

 

 

 

Was there a particular book or scripture that opened the door to your             understanding of God’s truth?

 

 

 

Do you personally make an effort to make visitors feel welcome and             accepted in church?

 

Pray About It

 

Dear God,

Thank you for blessing our lives with people who care for us enough to ask for help on our behalf. Please guide us to those who may need our help, and continue to help those we have already lifted up to you. Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Friday was not so good for us this year. We lost Karen. The past few days have been so crazy, I haven’t even processed this yet. We decided not to wait to start looking for another dog. We visited the local animal shelter to check out a few dogs we found on the internet. This morning after church we met the foster mom of one we were interested in – This afternoon, we adopted her. We decided to name her Grace since we lost Karen Friday, and today found Grace.

Sometimes when I want to feel better about myself I watch pre-teeth-whitening 90’s movies in HD. That is all.

Monday’s Lenten sermon given by Rob Renfroe had three main things we have to do to advance our relationship with Jesus.

1. Wanting – We have to want it. As Lent draws to an end, I have never felt so close to God. I want to stay here. I know that I can as long as I keep looking forward towards the horizon. Since I’m learning to recognize grace, blessings, and guidance so present – I’ve never wanted anything so much.

2. Waiting – To reconcile this in my mind I think about my garden. I try to plant vegetable seedlings as early as possible so they will be big and ready to transplant on the first possible planting date. I spend so much time doing this, I always forget about my flowers. So right now when I see all of the wonderful colors everywhere, and my seeds still haven’t sprouted, I know all I can do is wait. I don’t always follow the proscribed route to do things which often leads to self-inflicted waiting. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have no doubt that there will eventually be flowers. That is where faith comes in. God works on His own schedule. I am learning to be happy to wait.

3. Willing – I think it would be accurate to state that before this Lenten season I would have had a bit more trouble with this. I am willing. Whatever it takes. I want to go where He would have me go. I’m not sure when this penny dropped, but I feel it. I think maybe it’s the result of feeling so carried through this intense and difficult time.

I looked at the calendar today and was a little surprised. My birthday has always been a huge deal.evidently that has changed.

This morning I decided to select a friend. I know this sounds kinda weird. But I was reading a book wherein this chick mentions that her friend was helping her pick out an outfit. I noticed that that may be why I walk around looking hobolicious all the time. So I thought it might be fun to start taking applications for a friend.

So then at church God sat a friend prospect right next to me. And I was too chicken to even say hello. She’s someone I “know” from the twitterverse. So anyway. I chickened out on the whole friend finding thing.

A little conversation I had with the administrator of an online group wherein you can give away stuff…

“I think He was sending me the same message a couple of years ago after 38 years of hoarding. It’s been a long process trying to reprogram both of us. The clutter still weighs heavy, due in part to bringing in almost as much as we’re cycling out. We’re fortunate to have three adult children who throw out too much, in my opinion.

Will get back to you Tuesday evening.

Ann

On Mar 23, 2013, at 4:19 PM, Wendy Tankersley wrote:

Maybe God is trying to tell me that I need to give some stuff away or else I might end up crushed under the weight of clutter like those hoarders. LOL!”

“Most of the people I know who have what I want—which is do say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy—are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith; they are Buddists, Jews, Christians—people banding together to work on themselves and for human rights. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful.” -Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

I think Corbin had a panic attack in school today. He sent me a message saying that he felt weird and asking if I could come get him. When I arrived he said he felt weird and shaky and his arms were numb. There were only 30 minutes left in school so I checked him out and called the pediatrician. They told me to take him to the ER. I just brought him home and had him breathe in a paper bag. He’s fine as frog hair now. He said he just felt like he was losing his mind. I can totally relate. I went through the same things when I was a kid. I think he’s going to be okay now that I reassured him that there is nothing wrong with him.