Printable version
A Hopeful Heart by Debe Haller Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." -Psalm 27:14
Danny and I began our adventure of home
educating our children in 1984 when our two oldest children were in second and
fifth grade. Throughout the years we
have marveled at God’s grace as four toddlers became teens, three teens turned
twenty, and three children were married and became parents. We have experienced the highest of highs and
the lowest of lows that only come through parenting. Since beginning to home school we adopted our
two daughters, birthed Hope
Christian Academy We lost several loved ones to
death, began to fellowship at a new church, watched God cause growth in us as
His children and in the seeds we planted- both in the ground and in our
children. We changed curriculum umpteen
times, had children hospitalized, joined the Advanced Training Institute
International, and gleaned lessons about God’s care from our mother hens and
their chicks. We were blessed with eight grandchildren and opened our first
homeschool store. We graduated our four
children from Hope
Christian Academy
Danny and I learned new
ways to structure our day, celebrated thirty-seven years of marriage by God’s
grace and developed treasured friendships.
We added a pot-bellied pig named “Millie B. Bacon” to our menagerie and
daily experienced God’s mercy. We home
schooled our nephew, a niece, guided our four teens through encounters with
junior college courses, trusted God to protect two of our children as we sent
them to Indianapolis and Dallas for further training and obeyed God as He
inspired effort and provided time to write two books. We have watched Hope grow
from fourteen young and apprehensive families to over 160 families who are
committed to follow God’s best for their families and work together as a team
for the protection and perseverance to fulfill our calling to home educate. After thirty-four years as parents and
twenty-three years of homeschooling, Danny
and I now enjoy quiet moments as empty-nesters that are frequently interspersed
with a house and yard full of visiting grandchildren. God continually reminds us of our priorities
as He provides opportunities for us to invest in the lives of our children and
grandchildren for eternity.
In
the summer of 2003 we moved the school office and library from our home to a
commercial location and expanded our services to include a home educator book
and country gift store. “Store schooling” three grandchildren gave us new ideas
and perspective on home schooling. In
the spring of 2006 God provided the quaint two-story building at the front of Garden Grove Friends Church After five years, our Homeschool Store and
More is in the process of liquidation due to the mass availability of materials
readily available online to the homeschool community.
If
we are Christian families who desire to make a difference by raising up a
foundation for future Godly generations, we must make plans and invest
ourselves for eternity, taking the daily steps necessary to obtain our
goal. We can not afford to focus solely
on each day, each semester, or even each year, as though getting through that
moment in time is our goal. We must look
ten years down the road. Where, or
better yet whom, do you want your family, your children, or yourself to be in
the year 2025? Hope operates as a team
of committed parents working toward common goals.
The
vision at Hope is to offer support, guidance, and accountability to parents who
desire to train their children to 1) live by Biblical principles; 2) practice
responsible life skills and stewardship; 3) pursue excellence in academics; 4)
be conformed to the image of Christ, and 5) be team players and good examples
to others. We are training our children, especially teens, to reach beyond the
desire to look for what they can get from others and Hope activities. Our children are being taught to be
submissive to their parents and all authorities, and good examples to other
children. We have confidence that God
will develop character in our children as we follow His principles in training
them to look outside of themselves for purpose in life. Let’s look to God to give us unity as
conservative Christian private home educating families pursuing excellence in
education.