Teach Them Diligently Bloggers and Speakers at the Omaha, NE Convention!

Last spring, I was in a hard place.  My body was tired.  My heart was broken.  I felt overwhelmed.

I didn’t share too much about what was going on in my life at that point–simply because I couldn’t and still can’t.  All of the stressors from outside our little family added up to a bunch of stress inside our family.

Homeschooling became excruciatingly hard.  I was really at a breaking point with one daughter.  I wanted to give up homeschooling.  I really did.  I even started looking around at schools in our area.  I felt like a huge failure–especially since one of the most popular posts on this site is all about why we homeschool!

At just the perfect time, I received an invitation to go to a Teach Them Diligently convention.

The conference was way more than I expected.  I was encouraged by Leslie Nunnery.  I was inspired by Heidi St. John.  I was convicted by Rachael Carman.

I took the three girls with me (my husband had another convention to attend that same weekend), and they attended the Battle for Truth kids program.  It was really an amazing program, and I was impressed by the teachings and activities they had for the children to do.  Although, I do have to say, for the first time in their lives they played *battle* and *combat* in the hotel room after the convention (it’s usually dolls and books and playing house and that sort of thing around here with the three girls)!

Anyway, I walked away from the conference knowing I had lost focus.  I had begun to dwell on the academic results of our homeschooling–instead of the relational part of homeschooling.  And it really sucked the life out of all of us.  Over and over that weekend, I heard this:

• Relationships are more important than rules.
• Don’t throw your relationship with your child away over a math book.
• People are more important than stuff.

My rigid approach to life last semester really depleted the wonder of learning.  My focus on the worries of life ruined a peaceful and joyful home.  I valued checking off the boxes more than time spent connecting and building relationships with my children.

This summer has been a time of recharging and reprioritizing.  I feel renewed and rested for the year ahead.  We’re making some changes and decreasing the stress level.  I am so grateful to Leslie and Rebecca for allowing me to attend the Teach Them Diligently conference.  It was exactly what I needed at exactly the right time.

Next year, there will be four Teach Them Diligently conferences!  I hope you will consider checking one out–and I hope to be there, too!

Disclosure:  I was given a free ticket to the conference, but all thoughts and opinions are my own–and I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it.  If you are going through a hard time or just need encouragement, it is amazing!