Homeschool Planning

I have been busy over the last few days feverishly sipping iced coffee and working on plans for our upcoming school year. Although a few of my students were still finishing up stuff from last year as I worked, that small fact won't deter me from getting started on our plans for a new year. I will have five students in the coming year, and although I will be sending a few of my students to community college for some of their classes, it is still a tremendous amount of planning.

The very first step for me when planning our homeschool year, is to evaluate what went well in the year we just (nearly) finished. If a curriculum was causing a lot of frustration, then it it will probably not be used again. Same thing with classes and activities; because there are so many of us, I have to carefully evaluate what we spend our time and money on.

The homeschool planner by Alicia Hutchinson has been a great resource for me this year, as I work on this process. I usually pull together calendars and lesson plans from various sources on the internet, but when I saw that Alicia had put together a planner that was sold as a download so I could easily fit the pages into my existing binder system, I was really excited to try it.

One of the first pages that I used was the, "More Of This, and Less of This" page. Tools like this, really help me to nail down my thoughts so that my planning makes sense.

Once I had jotted down some thoughts there, I printed one of the lesson plan pages which I used to jot down ideas of which curriculum I would use for each child. This provided a helpful grid for remembering which subjects I needed to cover as I hashed out what resources I would need. As I filled in the squares with book and curriculum ideas, I then made notes at the bottom of the page about which subjects I would need to purchase. As a long time homeschooler, I am blessed to be able to pull from a stash of books that I have collected through the years. This is one of many ways that I am able to homeschool on a budget. 

I also started a comprehensive list of what books we would be reading in the coming school year. I don't want our schooling to be just about getting through a textbook, but I want my children to interact with real ideas from living books, the kind of books that bring history to life. The planner from Alicia also included a helpful resource for book lists. 

If only the work ended there, but unfortunately, the next task usually takes the longest. Before I can get my students baskets filled with their new books, I have to weed through the pictures and pencil stumps and (mostly) finished workbooks to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I used to keep nearly every bit of work, until a helpful friend recommended just keeping a few samples. You could check with your state, but this article from HSLDA suggests keeping samples of work, attendance records and records of what curriculum you used, among other things, but doesn't say that I have to keep every single workbook page. Sweet relief.

I did find that since we moved away from using so many workbooks, and more towards integrating written and oral narration, our keepers are much more fun. I ended up stapling some of the best ones into a booklet that we could flip through later to remember our happy homeschool year. This amazing post by Jodi Mockabee gives some more clever ideas for saving your children's best work.

Once I had gone through and cleaned out the baskets, they were ready to fill with our new curriculum, which I am slowly compiling. As I filed last years school work, I also averaged out test scores to give grades to my high school and junior high students, and filled in simple report cards for all of them. We don't make a big deal about grades in our house, everyone is expected to give their best effort, but I do start coaching them on the importance of grades as they enter the junior high and high school years. That is when grades start adding up to money for college, if that is the path they choose.

Once all the grades have been logged and last years school work filed, I am left with empty baskets and a happy list of what we will be studying in the coming year. There is plenty more to do, before I officially start school, but I am super happy to have the most difficult jobs behind me so I can get back to reading aloud to my kids.

I was blessed with a review copy of the planner, which is well worth its bargain price tag. It had tons of options for planner pages, and is a great tool for getting your homeschool organized.

Summer Of Fun

My time with my children is moving so quickly. These happy days of childhood will be over all too soon, and in my earlier years as a mother, I was often so deep into survival mode, that I couldn't take the time to reflect on how quickly the days were flying by. 

As I have grown to understand that my time to build relationships and influence my children is limited, I am even more intense about creating memories while we can. Because of this, I try to take time each season to brainstorm with them some favorite activities to complete. Each season has it's own special celebrations, and because there are fewer national holidays in the summer, we make a point of thinking up special summer celebrations.

Last summer, I found this amazing post by Ann Voskamp, which inspired me to look at even ordinary things as a celebration. As I started highlighting these occurrences to my children as special celebrations instead of taking them for granted as part of the everyday, our summer gained a little sparkle and delight.

This summer, we sat down and talked about all our dreams for the summer. Some of them are simple while others will take a bit more planning, but because we have created a culture that values simple fun, my kids didn't even think of asking for tickets to Disneyland, or a Hawaiian vacation.

On our list;

1. Sleep in a tent

2. Go to the beach

3. Roast s'mores

4. Have a party

5. Swim

6. Eat ice cream

7. Jump in a lake

8. Go to the fair

9. Go to a farmers market (I grow a fair bit of our fresh food, but haven't completely detached from grocery store produce.)

10. Ride bikes (we live on a dirt lane, so this takes a special effort.)

11. Pick berries

12. Read a novel (this one is for me, the kids seem to find time....)

We rescued a baby bluebird.

Through the years, we have also tried to find special books to celebrate the seasons. 

Preschoolers and Peace highlighted some great picture books on this post.

We checked out a few of those, but have also enjoyed A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor as a book to celebrate the seasons, and also, Swallows and Amazons for a wonderfully fun summer read aloud.

Had a family vacation.

What makes your summer extra special?

Went to the beach!

and read.

Affiliate links in post.

Write You On My Heart

A few months ago, I stumbled across the website, "Write You On My Heart", and was able to get a copy of the book, Playful Pictures, which is written by the website owners, Jeremy and Alicia Brown. I was so excited to find this resource for improving the photos we take of our children, and only wish I had found it years earlier.

 I have always loved recording memories with my children through photos but there were so many basics that I had no idea about. Simple things, such as being aware of busy backgrounds and getting the right lighting, were new ideas to me. Knowing these basics would have made such a difference in the pictures that I took of my older children, it breaks my heart a little to think of how much lovelier my photos could have been.

 

The authors of the book convey so much enjoyment of their children, and their ideas about photography resonate with me; picture time doesn't have to be misery, it could actually be fun.

"In experimenting with our own kids, we discovered that adding play into the mix is the magic ingredient, and we wrote Playful Pictures to show you exactly how to find the same thing come true in your own family. Along with sharing our favorite iPhone photo tips, we've filled the book with inspiration, games and other ideas for making picture time playful and fun while creating space for you to easily take pictures that capture your child's heart. " (Jeremy and Alicia Brown)

 

The book includes a very handy checklist for making sure you are set up for success. I use the checklist regularly when I am taking pictures of my children, and it has made a big difference in the quality of my photos. One very precious feature of the book is a list, and descriptions of several games to play with your children as you are taking pictures. Games, which will not only create joy-filled pictures, but which will also make picture time a happy-memory making time with your children.

 

I have loved interacting with Alicia Brown. She is a very genuine person, who, with her husband has created an amazing book which so beautifully captures the joy of parenting. Not only is this book a wonderful beginning photography resource, it is also a heartfelt expression of love; capturing the joy of childhood, and the awesome privilege it is to be a parent.

 

This is an affiliate post, which I am so honored to do.

You can purchase the book through the ad in my sidebar, or by clicking here.

The Prepared Environment

Homeschooling often involves keeping multiple aged children constructively occupied. Most of us don't have several children of the same age which we can teach all at once. We must integrate our different aged children into the same learning environment. In our home we do have circle time where all of our children are gathered for learning, with some of the material going right over the heads of the littlest ones, and some of it, such as singing the ABC song, boring to tears the older ones. The ideal then is to have an environment which is conducive to many independent learners of different ages. Why independent? Well, obviously, so that I can drink my coffee in peace (this is a joke)!

Really, the goal is to develop independent learners because when children are directing some aspects of their education, they are going to be more motivated about what they are learning. 

This brings us to the subject of The Prepared Environment. A prepared environment is a Montessori term that means a classroom that is carefully organized for optimum learning. In a homeschool environment, it is completely possible to have a beautiful environment for learning, one which makes independent learning a natural occurrence.

In the above linked article, the author explains that there are several  principles for a prepared environment. This is my adaptation of how these work in a homeschool.

1. Structure and Order- Young children are carefully taught how to do things. How to make their bed, get dressed, brush their teeth and wash their hands are all part of the basic lessons. Children, from a young age are allowed to get their own snack and drinks but they are taught how to do it and how to clean up after themselves as well. A minimum amount of clothes are kept in drawers low enough for children to reach, and toys are also kept to a minimum so that a child can easily pick up after herself. Tools are preferred over toys, tools such as; a small broom and dustpan, child sized table and chairs and even clothes washing supplies such as washboards and clotheslines.

2. Freedom- Within the framework of order, there is great freedom. A child may choose to color first or to do a pouring exercise. They may choose to wash some dishes or sew a button on a cloth. They may choose to diagram a sentence or do a counting exercise. However, a child is not allowed the freedom to stay in their pajamas all day watching cartoons. So, although freedom is highly prized in a Montessori environment, and can be a great motivator for young children, it is not freedom from all restraints, it is more simply, the freedom to choose activities which are available within the prepared structure.

3. Beauty- A Montessori environment should be beautiful, but so should be your home. Beauty doesn't have to require a lot of money. It can involve simple things such as getting rid of broken toys, and excess furniture. It can involve putting fresh paint on a tired and chipped wall, or finding a thrifted basket to keep blankets and toys in, instead of strewing them across the floor. Life with children involves lots of messes, but putting in the effort to keep your home an inspiring place does have a big impact. Also, keeping the T.V. off and instead having a variety of lovely books, and music in addition to Bibles and musical instruments will make a major difference in the atmosphere of your home.

4. Nature and Reality- When children have an opportunity to interact with nature it can be both inspiring and calming for them. This is why it is important to keep your environment as natural as possible. If you have outdoor space, let them have time daily to enjoy it. Keep your indoor space tuned towards creation as well by using natural materials such as wood and glass in your kitchen and workspaces and avoiding plastic toys and tools (we make an exception for a variety of items, such as Legos and toy animals.)

Although, these are some examples of basic things we have done to create an environment which accommodates learning, it is all grace if things go as hoped for. There are mornings where I fail to follow through on good habits and my kitchen ends up a disaster because the children have all freely helped themselves to breakfast (good), using up all the sugar, and smearing jam across the counter in the process(bad)!

Ultimately, the best thing I have done to create a prepared environment, is to prepare my heart by seeking God first. Only He can give me the self discipline needed to follow through on good habits, both for myself and for my children, and only He can give me the power to forgive, both myself and my children when we fail.

However, it is better to put in the effort, and through baby steps move towards a learning environment  that makes it easier for children to learn, than to not even try. It is better to receive forgiveness when you miss the mark, than to shoot for nothing.

Homegrown With Children

I have always loved gardening. It could stem from spending my early childhood on a farm, where my siblings and I would race through acres of peas, harvesting a few for a snack, or, crouched together in the weeds, watch our mother gather in wispy stalks of dillweed.

Even as a young wife, we had a garden. My strong husband gathered chunks of broken concrete from the side of the road that we proceeded to fashion into a patio, complete with a beautiful slab of harvested granite that we used for a bench. Soon, baby tears and moss filled the cracks and a lovely plum tree grew in the corner of the small, fenced in yard.

Whether we lived in a condo, a suburb or on sprawling country acreage, we grew a garden. It might have been simply a few pots on a terrace, but always we have grown a little patch of food and flowers.

It has been natural to involve my children in the process. Sometimes it is a chore in exchange for a reward; "You fill up this bucket with weeds, and then you can swim", are words I have uttered many times. Sometimes though, their excitement about the process takes over and they stake a claim on a spot of land in order to plant some of their own seeds.

Seed planting time is upon us again. For a fraction of the cost of buying plants at a nursery, I can start tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from seed, so that when the days get long and warm, the plants are ready to put in the ground. My two youngest children saw the box of seed packets come out of the cupboard and eagerly joined in the fun.

I used empty egg cartons as planters for them. The type made from paper are ideal, as they will simply dissolve when planted, leaving the roots of the small plant undisturbed. The foam carton is fine also though, it will just take a bit more finesse to transplant.

I had some extra seeds which I gave them to plant. Some years, I will let my children start a variety of seeds, but with the time we had available I simply gave them each one type. They may have shared a little which will make the sprouting a fun mystery. I think I can tell cilantro and chamomile apart. I hope.

We typically plant open-pollinated seeds. This means they are not GMO. This also means that I can save my seeds and replant next year. I often have squash and tomatoes volunteer from previous years,  and my poolside becomes a small jungle of cherry tomatoes which have volunteered from previous years.

The only caution on using open pollinated seeds is that my squashes seem to be cross breeding. I started the year with zucchinis and pumpkins and by the next year I had a strange monster of a cross that we nicknamed pumpkini and promptly shredded for zucchini bread. We also planted melons and cucumbers but then ended up with some strange, sweet vegetable that looked like an oversized armenian cuke.

Aside from the discovery of new breeds of vegetables, there are so many benefits to be gained while gardening as a family. My children love vegetables. They love tiny carrots fresh from the dirt, and home dug potatoes, discovered like buried treasure. We learn to work as a team, and we see the wonder of Creation on display in so many lovely details.

Gardening can be hard work, but it is work that is so rewarding, and the rewards multiply when you have a few small friends to work with.

Our favorite seed companies;
Bountiful Gardens

Peaceful Valley Farms

A Great Book on Gardening With Children-
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children 

This post contains affiliate links.

Fun With Thrifting

9. That is the number of people for whom I am in some way responsible to clothe and feed. Granted, several of my children are earning money, but now that we realize how expensive college is, we are asking them to sock away any extra money toward those expenses while we pay for day to day life. 

This large number in our home means that we need to be creative about how we provide for household needs. The list at times seems very long. Food, clothes, shoes, housewares and toiletries are all constantly being worn out, used up and otherwise consumed. 

Although consumption is a fact of life, since we care about living within our means and helping the poor, we don't want consumption to become our life. In order to live for more than just consuming more and new products, it is important that we make two principles a priority for how we meet our needs for stuff.

One principle is to evaluate every need. Do I need more home decor? Do I need more clothes? Do I need more dishes? Keeping my home and my people looking nice is important to me, but it is also important to do justice. 

With that in mind, we try to make do with what we have, whenever possible. Making my house pretty might involve cutting down some greenery from outside, or moving furniture around, or using paint on hand to refresh a room or a piece of furniture. 

Thrifted cups

My library table is one example of this. It was in a shed when we bought our property and I simply cut the legs down and repainted it with paint from a previous project, in order to dress up my library a bit.

Sometimes though, what you need will not be already in some random shed on your property. 

This brings us to the second principle, buy used. When what I need is not at hand, my next step is usually hitting up a thrift store. Although the smell of a thrift store can sometimes turn my stomach a bit, the treasures that are available are such fun to discover. 

Take my new boots for example. I had been wanting a pair of low heeled booties, and sadly, the man made material on my four year old Target specials had begun to peel. True, I could have just stuck with my other boots, but I really enjoy being creative with my wardrobe. 

Doing justice doesn't have to look dowdy. 

Enter a nice big thrift store in a neighboring town. I ran in there one afternoon with my younger children and discovered exactly the boots I had been looking for, in leather, no less. Along with the boots, I found a couple of good books and a beautiful cotton sweater to replace a worn and pilled acrylic sweater.

The new boots and sweater, but sheesh my head looks small for my body!

The other great find on that particular day were several soup bowls which matched the ones that my mother had handed down to me several years ago. My family is hard on dishes, it seems we break something at least once a week. This is just one more reason that I am thrilled to replace them for .59 each at a thrift store, instead of buying easily broken Ikea dishes or whatever Target is selling.

Thrifted, everything but the darling girl.

Whether your goal is to get out of debt, give more money to the poor, or avoid supporting unethically produced clothing; buying less and shopping at thrift stores are a few savvy strategies for accomplishing your goals.

For more ideas on living on a budget, check out my book, Bountiful Homeschooling on a Budget.
Bountiful Homeschooling on a Budget


For another great post on thrifted clothes, check out the lovely, Flower Patch Farmgirl

Bountiful Vacations on a Budget

Vacations with a large family can take some serious logistics, especially when you are trying to have fun on a budget. Many of our vacations involve camping, which is not as rustic as it sounds because we have a small travel trailer that we haul along with us, but there are a few months of the year when camping is not so comfortable.

Living on a small farm with a couple of little dogs has caused us to be strategic about getaways. It seems to work best for us to be gone for just a couple of days at a time, this also seems to work best with the varying work schedules in our home. 

With kids in college, we also are having to think about school schedules when planning vacations, something that was not an issue when all our children were homeschooled. With three of our students freshly finished with a semester of college, we took an opportunity for a short getaway. It always feels like it might be our last vacation as a family because our oldest is getting so close to being out of the home, so we are trying to make the most of these moments, and still stay on a budget.

Our recent getaway was planned a few months ago when the dates became available for Home School Days at the Monterey Aquarium. This is a fabulous program where the normally twenty-seven dollar tickets are free for the adults and students in our party. This makes a location that would normally be out of reach for us, suddenly affordable.

We also wanted to stay an extra day or so, so that we could explore our favorite tide pools in Pacific Grove, so we booked two nights at The Sea Breeze Inn.  This is an older hotel, but the linens have been upgraded and they have a family cottage that works fairly well for us, at a very affordable price. With our family size, we would normally have to rent two rooms and spend upwards of $200 a night, but this particular room was less than $150, and we were all able to squeeze into the available beds, I know some big families let kids sleep on hotel floors, but I can barely stand to see my children sit on a hotel floor, much less sleep on one.

We arrived at our hotel in the afternoon and then went straight to the beach. Unfortunately we had missed low tide, but the rocks were still beautiful for climbing on, and the salty waves and cool breezes were refreshing after the several hour car ride. 

After rock hopping along the shoreline, we went out for a pizza dinner. We had packed a few snacks for lunch, and I do mean just a few, so by the time our pizza arrived, we were like a pack of ravenous wolves. We ate at Gianni's, which was just okay. It is a cute little restaurant but we are used to ordering Mountain Mikes with a coupon or Little Caesars so the $27 dollar pizzas were a bit steep, if I was going to be spending that much, I would much rather have been eating at my sister's fabulous wood fired pizza restaurant. We ordered two extra large pizzas and had some leftovers which were promptly eaten for breakfast.

Back at the hotel, we discovered that our heater was not working. We didn't feel like moving or having a workman in the room with our big crowd, so we cranked the heat up in the adjoining room and cuddled up to stay warm. Having this inconvenience somewhat dimmed our enjoyment of the hotel however, and with the added blessing of pouring rain, we decided to check out in the morning and head home the next night after our aquarium visit. Our vacation was supposed to have involved two nights in a hotel, but our beds at home are so comfortable, and our home feels so sanitary, compared to the hotel that we decided to switch gears and just spend one night away.

After a night of rest, albeit in a chilly room, we checked out of the hotel, with the manager trying very sweetly to get us to stay one more night. We headed to the aquarium and enjoyed a few hours of wandering through the exhibits. The older three children decided to skip the aquarium and walk around town, so we had the fun of exploring with just 6 of us. Although I missed my big kids, it was nice to be able to focus on enjoying the younger four. 

After exploring the watery exhibits we ate our packed lunch and then met the big kids at Starbucks for coffee and cocoa. It was cozy to hang our there while the rain poured down outside but finally we braved the elements to get back in our big van. My husband gave us a sweet tour of the lovely old homes in Pacific Grove, while each of us pointed out our favorites. Then after an hour or so of exploring we met up with friends at Phil's Fish House for some delicious fish and chips. 

With our tummies full, we headed home into the night and crawled into our own cozy beds, determined to treat the next day like a vacation as well. Although our trip was short, it was a sweet little time of reconnecting with each other, and exploring one of our favorite created places, the beautiful, rocky shoreline. Although, we have taken cheaper vacations involving our travel trailer, and our own trailer cooked food, when compared to a weekend at Disneyland, this vacation was very budget friendly.

For more tips on bountiful living on a budget, check out my book!

What are your best tips for vacations on a budget?

Simplified Room Cleaning for Kids

How does it happen? Every few weeks I am forced to go into my youngest boys' bedroom, after finding it increasingly messy when I tuck them in at night, and do a thorough cleaning. While I clean, I utter encouraging words such as, "How did this happen?", "Why do you have ten pairs of socks under your bed" and "You are not the two little pigs!". 

As I exclaim in shock and awe, I scrape the underbed contents and begin sorting. I invariably find an odd assortment of dusty stuffed animals, mismatched socks, dog-eared books and scattered bits of that bane of my existence,

Legos.

To give my young boys a little credit, I must say that their room is quite small and it is rather hard to tell which of the two who share it is the worst perpetrator. Making beds and closing drawers are two basic daily duties that should be routine at this point, but as my son pointed out to me when I took the photos, "This is going to look bad for you", and the truth is that if it isn't a routine, it means that I haven't been following through. 

If I daily check their room to make sure those things are done and then give appropriate consequences when they are left undone, it will eventually become a habit for them. However, if I go in there once a month when it has become unbearable, rant and rave over the mess and then ignore it again until next month, I will have taught them nothing, except perhaps that I am inconsistent with my expectations.

As with any task which we expect our children to do, there are a few basic ideas for making it doable.

1. Keep it simple. Easy to pull up blankets, or a bottom sheet with duvet cover will make bed making do-able for the youngest of children.

2. Keep it organized. We try really hard to only have a few categories of toys in our home, and especially in the rooms. This particular room has a bin for stuffed animals, a bin for dress up, a book-shelf with special books, a small toy bin for toy animals, and hooks for back packs. There is also an under-bed drawer for Legos, those evil little offenders of room cleanliness.

3. Keep a minimum of stuff. This room does not have a closet. When we remodeled, we had to take the closet out for use as a hallway and so it is a little awkward for clothes storage. We keep the boys better clothes hanging up in our closet and they are just responsible for a few drawers of everyday clothes. Keeping these everyday clothes, jammies and underthings weeded through regularly makes it much easier for the boys to put their clothes away in the proper drawers. A few categories of toys are kept in their own individual bins.

This is no designer bedroom. With seven children at home, we are just one step away from having utilitarian dorm rooms, but helping these young men develop good habits that will carry them into adulthood is our responsibility as parents. 

Another post on cleaning kids rooms

And one with a great cleaning checklist here

And this one on our responsibility as parents

Discovering Early Americans

We have started another wonderful year of learning and this year we are doing Early American History. We have used various curriculum in the past but this year we are staying on a budget with homeschool materials and just studying a different event in American History each month without purchasing a curriculum. We will then celebrate with a monthly project day with a few of our friends.

Although we don't have a formal curriculum this year, I own a few high school textbooks and student readers which I can use as resources for the younger children, as well as a wonderful set of timeline figures and blank maps which will be resources that I pull from.

Our first month was the study of Native Americans, and we found some interesting books to read about a few different tribes. Because the content of some of these books may be a bit dark, I will edit as needed while I read, but they were all fascinating.

Book List

Sing Down The Moon- Scott O'Dell

If You Lived With The Hopi-Kamma

The Serpent Never Sleeps- Scott O'Dell

The Trail Of Tears- Joseph Bruchac

                                                       

We used our Picture Story form to write and illustrate a book report for each story that we read. This has been a good way to use the writing skills that we have learned through Institute for Excellence in Writing, as well as a good opportunity to evaluate the story and get writing practice.

Another fun activity was to label a United States map with geographical features as well as the territory that each tribe was living in.

The big finale was our project day. The children dressed up in costumes that I had made for some of their older siblings. We mixed up corn cakes in honor of the Pueblo people that we had been reading about and cooked them over an open fire. We used long branches that we had pruned off our apple tree to build a teepee which we covered with an old sheet.

                           

The children also made beaded jewelry, bow and arrows and ground acorns in a grinding stone. They  ate snacks from the time period such as dried cranberries, popcorn and beef jerky.

They also presented reports, my youngest students had a report on the Pueblo people complete with a rigatoni noodle pueblo village and my 11 year old son presented his Pueblo report while donning an elaborately painted mask which he had copied from a book.

                                 

Although our project day incorporated elements from many different tribes, it was a fun filled time to experience some of what the early Americans had experienced.

After we had finished up with our project day, I handed out blank books.  I purchased these in the dollar aisle at Target and we will use them as a scrapbook of our year. The children will fill in one or two pages each month with some of the information that they have learned.

                 

We are having so much fun incorporating many elements of learning into our history studies this year! Reading interesting books to my children and exploring other cultures and time periods are just a few of many wonderful aspects of homeschooling. 

This post contains affiliate links. So far, I haven't made any money from it, but it is worth a try!

Family Mission Trips

We have been doing mission work in Mexico for over 15 years and just got back from another wonderful weekend in this precious country.  Another brave family came with eight of their children and one adorable grandchild.

                  

This was one of our quickest trips ever, we rolled into Mexico on Saturday evening and were in the border line at 5pm on Monday, quick but full of excitement.

Sunday morning after a brief and cozy sleep at the mission house we headed to Calvary Chapel Rosarito for Sunday morning service. When we first moved to Mexico we attended this church which at the time met in a small retail building. The children were all packed into a downstairs room while the adults, around 40 people worshipped upstairs. Fast forward 10 years and this church now has over 1,000 people who meet in a huge warehouse and have new believers and new church plants growing as an outflow of their ministry. It was inspiring to be back in such an exciting place. 

   

                    

Sunday afternoon we drove an hour east to visit one of these church plants which is pastored by a couple we had known since living in Mexico. This brand new church meets under a couple of Costco car covers in one of the poorest squatter communities in Tijuana. 

Scott and I were honored to testify of God's goodness in our lives to these spiritually hungry people and to share some tools which we had learned at the Love After Marriage conference we attended in February. While the service was going on our children had the fun of directing the children's class which met in a little dirt floor classroom. To get to the classroom you ascended a staircase made of old tires. An incredible place to sow into.

                  

Monday, after a fabulous breakfast of chorizo and eggs with fresh tortillas and pan dulce we headed over to the orphanage. We have been supporting this orphanage for the last 8 years and love how they really parent the children. It was wonderful to listen to the children recite much of Ephesians 6, although with my faulty Spanish I kept another child close at hand to help me.

After feeding the children pizza and fixing up a sunshade over their outdoor dining room we headed back to the U.S. We were across the border in 30 minutes, one of the shortest crossings we had ever experienced. It was an inspiring weekend because there is nothing quite as special as ministering cross culturally with your children.