I love when a dad involves himself in some aspect of homeschooling—whether it is listening to his kids’ recital of what was learned that day, teaching a subject he enjoys, or finding practical ways to support his wife in her extraordinary (and challenging) career as a homeschool teacher. The following is one of my favorite examples.
One snowy February day, I was speaking to a group of parents at a homeschool conference in Saskatchewan. As usual, my topics ranged from loving learning to loving history, with generous doses of “enjoy your kids” and God’s faithfulness interspersed throughout. One couple sat in the front row for each of my workshops, responding with smiles and affirmations for the things they heard.
As a speaker, finding those folks in the audience who are “with you” is very encouraging, so I was glad to have them in the front row. It wasn’t until the end of the day that I learned what had motivated them to be present at all my workshops.
The dad introduced himself and said, “My family listens to your history CDs as part of their curriculum, and, frankly, I’ve been listening as well.” He went on to say that he owned a recording studio, which gave him a behind-the-scenes look at those who might sound “bigger than life” on a recording, but were less than that in real life. As he had listened with his family to my history CDs, he had enjoyed the stories but had been somewhat skeptical about me.
So, when he saw that I was keynoting at the homeschool conference, he told his wife that he was coming too—for the express purpose of checking me out.
Gulp. I hadn’t known that. I anxiously held my breath to see what he was going to say next.
With a beaming smile, Kelvin said, “And, Diana, after sitting here all day, I can tell you that you’re the real deal! You absolutely believe this—you’re really speaking from your heart.”
Relief. I passed the test I hadn’t known I was taking.
To hear Kelvin’s thoughts on my curriculum and history CDs for yourself, here’s an informal interview (imperfectly mic’ed!):
No Comments
There are no comments yet, add one below.