That's What I Want On My Tombstone!

Today I have the awesome privilege of guest posting for a popular home school site called...  Hip Homeschool Moms!  And if you are questioning my "hipness," I will send you a photo! So, if you are visiting from that site, WELCOME! I am so glad you are here. Though this is not a "home school" site, I am a mom and minister who home schools! My 12 year old daughter came to us and asked to be homeschooled. To read that story, click here.


And before you "regulars" click away and quit reading, my guest post is not just for people or moms who homeschool... I think it is applicable for all of us! 




Here's a sneak peek of my guest post today...

"There’s a great verse in Hebrews in the Bible that refers to the awesome faith of Abraham. The verse reads, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place...obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Honestly, that is a terrific description of my life, but particularly when it comes to homeschooling."

Click here to read the "rest" of this story...and I would love for you to comment on their site...or here...or both! It would just make my day to hear from you!


As for the tombstone...yeah...I would love to have:

Kelli Wommack

"Obeyed God and went... 

even though she didn't know where she was going."  

Now that is a goal worth living for! May we live a life of radical obedience and reckless faith. Live for ONE!

So, whatever...whatever He is calling you to do...obey. Though we do not have a GPS that tells us where we are going and how we will get there, we are following the ONE who is calling us. And HE knows it ALL...

Love to all of you,

Kelli

P.S. My new website is in the works and I can't wait to reveal it to you!!!!

Catch and Release

Many of you know that I home school my daughter who is in 7th grade. This is our first year of home schooling and though it has had its many challenges ( I can't do 7th grade math; she doesn't want to get up in the morning; and we like to play!), overall it has been an incredible experience. If you would like to read the story of her desiring to be home schooled and our decision to do this, click here. 

Thanks, Leslie Cardwell and Family Theatre

Rebekah (aka Bekah, Bekahboo) has morphed this year from a cute girl who never wanted to wear anything but jeans and t-shirts to a beautiful young woman that likes dresses, perfume, and brace yourself...flowers in her hair. It has been an exciting transformation to see God work on her from the inside out. She still doesn't care for bling (unlike her mom), but hey...one step at a time.


If you read the story about her wanting to be home schooled, you know that one of the reasons was she wanted to learn to be more bold and to be different...to be more comfortable in the skin that God had given her. This gives me chills! I have seen this happen this year. Not because of my teaching skills, but because she has allowed God to come in and replace her doubts and insecurities (which are completely normal for 7th graders) with promises and words from her Lord Jesus Christ.


One of the benefits of home schooling for her has been more freedom to be involved in things that she loves. This girl loves some drama. She has participated in many plays and this Friday night, she will have her first performance as Susan in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe at a local theatre. I am so excited for her. She has asked me not to sit in on any of the dress rehearsals, because she wanted her performance to be a surprise. I can't wait to see her do her thing...


The local theatre posted photos of the cast in dress. I saw these pictures of her in her role as Susan. I thought she looked beautiful, poised, and even valiant...just like a good Susan in Narnia. 


And then I focused in on this photo. My first honest thought as a mom was, "Oh, my, we must make sure that Queen thing doesn't go to her head." 


And then I felt the strong nudging of the Holy Spirit...

"She may be crowned as Queen Susan the Gentle in this play, but I am crowning her my Daughter, Daughter of the King. I am anointing her for something very special. Continue to speak words of encouragement and affirmation over her. Show her love and affection. Teach her what healthy ministry and family look like. Give her an example of what a love relationship with me looks like. I have an incredible plan for her life."


And then the big words...


"And let her go...release her to me."


These words came after I had the reality check that I may only have her 5 more years under my roof. 


"Let her go."


Lord, she is Yours. She always has been. But I now release fully into your plan and I am getting out of the way. Help me to be faithful as a mother and as a friend. More than anything, help me to trust You more.


Having a hard time letting go of something? Release it to the ONE who can do more than we could ever ask or imagine. Oh, and get out of the way. Reading by email and want to comment? Click here.


Living for ONE,


Kelli

Reposting the #3 Favorite Post of the Year: Different... In a Good Way

For the next couple of weeks, I have decided to repost some of my favorite (and hopefully yours, too!) posts. Maybe you caught them the first time around. Maybe you didn't. I am blessed by your reading. I am blessed by your friendship.

Different... In a Good Way

Kkmmll17 credit photobucket

In 2009, my daughter was 10 and I came across this very challenging blog written by Lysa Terkeurst.  "She Seeks the Uncommon" is a precious outpouring of Lysa's heart for her daughter, Hope. How she begs for Hope to be uncommon in this world. I was moved then in such a way to begin praying for my daughter, Bekah, as Lysa was praying for Hope. And for two years this word uncommon continues to be the descriptive adjective I desire for my Bekah.  

When Bekah was 18 months old, we were at the pediatricians office for a well child check-up and the doctor said to me, "Bekah is precocious." No, not precious (although she absolutely was), but precocious. Not wanting to sound baby-brained, I did not ask what it meant.  I did what any really smart mom would do.  I went home and looked it up in the dictionary. This is was it said, "having developed certain abilities at an earlier age than usual."  The thesaurus used words like, "advanced for one's age, mature, gifted, talented, clever, intelligent, quick."  Wow.  

Fast forward ten years. My Bekah can definitely be described as all of those words the thesaurus listed. Well, except for quick. She might be quick to catch on to things, but she MOVES in slow motion getting out the bed, taking a shower, folding clothes, all of the mundane things.  

In January of this year, Bekah approached me and asked me if she might could try homeschooling this next school year. Well, trying homeschooling is not like trying sweet potatoes. If you don't like it, you can't just spit it out. And homeschooling requires one major thing...me. You have to know that I have many friends that I love and admire that homeschool. But that was never a word that I wanted as a part of my vocabulary. I love my freedom between the hours of 8am and 3pm. I love my ministry that requires me to be available to people. And I love being able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it.  

When I asked her why she wanted to be homeschooled, she had three answers.

1.  "I want to move at my own pace. When I understand something, I want to be able to move on to the next thing. " I get that. She is intelligent and pretty quick to catch on to things.

2.  "I don't want to be at school for 7 hours and then come home and do homework for another hour or two. I want to be able to participate in other things - like drama, extra church activities, and I don't have time to do all that right now because of school." Ok, I get that, too.  I am really vigilant about guarding our family time and I do not allow either of my children to participate in more than one thing at a time. Because we would never see each other or have dinner as a family which I think is super important!

3.  "I want to be different. I feel like God has called me to be different and it is super hard to live that out with all the pressure from people at school. I want you, Mom, to spend at least the next year teaching me how to be bold." This was the clincher.  How could I say no?  


Yes, my precious (and precocious) daughter can be described in many terms. But the adjective that I pray most for her is different. Uncommon. And when the world begs her to conform, I  beg for God to continue transforming her. When her peers encourage her to fit in, I pray that she stands out. When she feels like giving in to the pressures of this world, I pray for the boldness to fight for what she believes in and to remember WHO fights for her.

So, am I homeschooling my 7th grader? Yes. Do I know what I am doing? Not exactly. But God does. He is shaping and molding a precious and precocious girl into a young woman who is different...in a good way.


An update since I published this in August:  
The first two months of homeschooling were...let's just say, difficult. Both of us had a pretty rough transitional time. But I can honestly say that these last two months (after the adjustment) have been some of the sweetest with my daughter. We talk. We laugh. We cry. We have relationship. And she is different...and to my surprise, so am I.


Unwrapping the gifts of God's blessings!


Kelli

Different... In a Good Way

In 2009, my daughter was 10 and I came across this very challenging blog written by Lysa Terkeurst.  "She Seeks the Uncommon" is a precious outpouring of Lysa's heart for her daughter, Hope. How she begs for Hope to be uncommon in this world. I was moved then in such a way to begin praying for my daughter, Bekah, as Lysa was praying for Hope. And for two years this word uncommon continues to be the descriptive adjective I desire for my Bekah.  

When Bekah was 18 months old, we were at the pediatricians office for a well child check-up and the doctor said to me, "Bekah is precocious." No, not precious (although she absolutely was), but precocious. Not wanting to sound baby-brained, I did not ask what it meant.  I did what any really smart mom would do.  I went home and looked it up in the dictionary. This is was it said, "having developed certain abilities at an earlier age than usual."  The thesaurus used words like, "advanced for one's age, mature, gifted, talented, clever, intelligent, quick."  Wow.  

Fast forward ten years. My Bekah can definitely be described as all of those words the thesaurus listed. Well, except for quick. She might be quick to catch on to things, but she MOVES in slow motion getting out the bed, taking a shower, folding clothes, all of the mundane things.  

In January of this year, Bekah approached me and asked me if she might could try homeschooling this next school year. Well, trying homeschooling is not like trying sweet potatoes. If you don't like it, you can't just spit it out. And homeschooling requires one major thing...me. You have to know that I have many friends that I love and admire that homeschool. But that was never a word that I wanted as a part of my vocabulary. I love my freedom between the hours of 8am and 3pm. I love my ministry that requires me to be available to people. And I love being able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it.  

When I asked her why she wanted to be homeschooled, she had three answers.

1.  "I want to move at my own pace. When I understand something, I want to be able to move on to the next thing. " I get that. She is intelligent and pretty quick to catch on to things.

2.  "I don't want to be at school for 7 hours and then come home and do homework for another hour or two. I want to be able to participate in other things - like drama, extra church activities, and I don't have time to do all that right now because of school." Ok, I get that, too.  I am really vigilant about guarding our family time and I do not allow either of my children to participate in more than one thing at a time. Because we would never see each other or have dinner as a family which I think is super important!

3.  "I want to be different. I feel like God has called me to be different and it is super hard to live that out with all the pressure from people at school. I want you, Mom, to spend at least the next year teaching me how to be bold." This was the clincher.  How could I say no?  


Yes, my precious (and precocious) daughter can be described in many terms. But the adjective that I pray most for her is different. Uncommon. And when the world begs her to conform, I  beg for God to continue transforming her. When her peers encourage her to fit in, I pray that she stands out. When she feels like giving in to the pressures of this world, I pray for the boldness to fight for what she believes in and to remember WHO fights for her.

So, am I homeschooling my 7th grader? Yes. Do I know what I am doing? Not exactly. But God does. He is shaping and molding a precious and precocious girl into a young woman who is different...in a good way.


Who are you praying for today? Your children? Your spouse? I would love to pray with you.  Leave a comment, please!


Unwrap the gift of praying for someone,

Kelli

I am linking up with Women Living Well today...go check out their site!



Linking up with Imparting Grace as well!