Dallas Black Theater -"Dance Africa"

Unfortunately, we were unable to take any pictures in The Majestic Theater. However, a photo truly would not have captured an ounce of the energy that was present. If you have a Black Dance Company in your town, I would definitely recommend buying tickets to Dance Africa.

The girls had been looking forward to this for months and it did not let them down. My mom went with us. There was not a very large crowd, however, the Ugandan Troop that performed was not hindered in the strength of their dance. I told Abby during the first dance to observe how the guys & girls used every part of their body. When they stomped, it was literally the loudest, strongest stomp that I had ever witnessed. I almost wept at one part strictly because of how powerful it was.

After the performance, we decided to stop and eat at The HUGE, new Bass Pro Shop...which we laughed about because the girls looked so cute in their skirts and we were going to eat in the "hunting and fishing zone"...but we had not been there yet. The girls were so excited. Besides the food being great, they have about 10 huge boats and yachts in the store that the kids can just crawl all over and have fun.

The day was great. It was another tally mark in the home school camp. In the state of Texas, homeschooling is considered a private education. The great thing about this classification is that it provides us the opportunity to attend many great performances, during the day, at a student matinee price. This might be something for you to check on in your area. For example, tickets to Dance Africa were $35-$55. When I called the dance company I told them that I was interested in bringing students to a performance and was wondering if they offered a special price. They asked me for the name of my school and I told them that I home schooled. They said that they needed to put a "name" in the computer to reserve the seats -so they used my last name and tagged Academy to it. Our tickets were $5 each and we were had the best seats in the house.

I'm a Big kid, now!!! Potty training COMPLETE!!!

Adoption & The Gospel

"Stigma is never a reason not to do something that is biblical."
-Dr. Voddie Baucham

Great Audio :
http://www.callingfortruth.org/cft/content/view/532/10/

If for some reason the link does not work...it is the Thursday, Oct 18, 2007 National Adoption Awareness Broadcast with Voddie Baaucham that you are looking for.

Contentment

I have not posted recently. I have debated as to whether or not I was going to detail all that I had been feeling over the past several weeks. I really do not want to...however, I think that it will be helpful to other people who are homeschooling or are considering homeschooling.

We have been under a lot of stress the past several months...and as a result, I have not been as focused as I should've been on "formal education." Don't get me wrong...we have set down everyday and accomplished the "list" of Math, Reading, English and maybe an "extra" every day or two...but I have been a million miles away. Very distracted.

I hit a wall about a week ago. I decided to go and interview a school. I felt like it was the right thing to do...until the night before.

I had gone in to put Abby to bed and she was talking about the "interview". As she began to talk I thought, "I really want her to be content whether she is with me or at a school." She told me that she wanted to "go to a school because she likes to carry her back pack." Which I completely understand because backpacks are my weakness. I told her that "I really wanted her heart to desire what ever God wanted for her." Then I said, "Abby, do you trust me?" and she said, "Yes...I'm just scared that you will say no." Which completely made me sad. I was on my knees beside her bed and I looked a little more closely into her eyes and I said, "I might...but I need you to trust me." When I prayed with her that night I prayed that the Lord would help her heart to be turned toward His and that she would desire what He wanted for her. I was crying while I prayed for her. I prayed that she would know that we are trying to make the right choices for her.

Well, we went to the interview...and we knew in about 5 minutes that the school was not a good fit. But more importantly, I knew that the issue was with me. I knew that I had been the one with the contentment issue. I knew that I had been the one wondering if I was doing enough or if she was going to be "ok". I knew that the stupidest thing that I could've done was to let my circumstances dictate my decision making. #1 - Why am I allowing myself to be stressed out over things that I have ABSOLUTELY NO control over? #2 - Why am I being distracted from the one thing that I do have control over? #3 - Why am I not trusting the way I should?

So...back home to tell Abby.

You know, she didn't take it as bad as I thought that she would. We actually had one of those conversations that made me say, "This is working." And today...we're back to, "Mommy, I love homeschooling!"

So, all of that to say, it can feel over whelming, and it may not be for everybody...but it is for us...today.