Season of Re-education

& Renewing of the Mind

____________________________

   

(#15)

"I Can't Afford to

Get Everything for the

Course at Once

(Can you make it more affordable?)

so

What Should I

 Get First?"

     

 

  

   

"Have you come up

with a creative way to make this

course more affordable

for me?"

    

   

I've been asked that question a variety of ways, many times.  And yes, I do have a few ideas, but, before I share them, I want to say a few things...

 

First, the only way the expenses to create and maintain our website, office expenses, and continuing to print our books is through sales via our online catalog.  I have to get a new computer every three or four years because I actually wear them out(!), plus there are production costs for our other seven books, etc.  And we have never, in our many years of business, raised the price of my books, but you can be sure that the cost to print them is rising.  So we gave up the "normal profit margin" on book selling many years ago. 

  

That's just the money end. I have put in thousands of hours creating the website and writing books and articles to help those who want to be set free.  And I also put in many many hours serving homeschoolers that I am never compensated for; the only way we are is through the sale of books.  (I WILL be in Heaven though!!  So I'm not complaining!!!)

   

In light of "all the above," can you see how questions about how I can make the course cost less might be received?   I don't take them personally, as in they don't make me angry or hurt my feelings.  It's just that I ~ we ~ have already poured endless hours and thousands of dollars to produce the resources and website you are enjoying, so (and please know that I say this with gentleness,) we now need for you to "grab the baton" and run with it from here, asking God to "fill in the gaps" for you financially, need be.  If this is something He called you to do, then it is a need, which it says in the Word He will provide. 

 

So look at it from that angle, and see what creative and even miraculous things He will do to provide the resources for this need as well!   "The servant is worthy of his hire," and already being at the low end of the scale pay-wise, we appreciate you not asking how we can help you pay less.    We LOVE what we do and are DELIGHTED to serve homeschoolers!!!  We just need you to be willing pay for the goods you are receiving.
  

Now for a few ways to make this more affordable for you(!): 

   

Ask any homeschooling friends (or even mere acquaintances) if they have any of the books for the course that you could borrow.

   
Consider going in with another homeschool family or two to share resources. (...except those that are duplicable and you need to purchase yourself.)

   

See if your support group has or would want to start a homeschool library.  If they don't, ask the Lord if maybe He is calling you to start one.  It will be a ministry with far-reaching results.  (And here's a word to the wise About Homeschool Libraries, Vendors, and Curriculum Fairs.) 

      

Pray, assuming (in faith) that the verse "My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus" applies to you TODAY!     I assure you that it does apply to you, and probably even more than it ever has because this arena is so very foundational and pivotal for your family!

    

Refrain from buying ~ or even sell ~ some of your curriculum text/workbooks. What you would pay (or have paid) for even just one or two subjects for just one child is typically enough to pay for the entire course! (I actually got this idea from several moms who have told me they did this!) The benefit your entire family will reap from the money being spent on truly educating Mom and freeing her up will far exceed the academic benefit of the text/workbooks.  It's far more important for Mom to get her foundation established and her vision set!  Then, if you still feel you need the textbooks later, God will provide. 

  

"Why spend your money on foodstuffs that don't give you strength? Why pay for groceries that don't do you any good? Listen and I'll tell you where to get good food that fattens up the soul. Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen, for the life of your soul is at stake."  (Isaiah 55:2)  This course is FOOD for your mind, heart and soul.  Is it possible that God may have already provided for you to take the course, but you've spent it on other "stuff" ~ curriculum "that won't do you any good"? Color me unsympathetic, but I can't tell you how many moms have told me they wish they could get my stuff, but they just can't afford it.  What's frustrating to me is that, in many cases, I know that they have spent hundreds of dollars on text/workbooks!  It boils down to what are your priorities?  And your beliefs about education are going to totally determine what your priorities are.  There is plenty of information right here at my website (120 articles at the time of this writing) to help you in your endeavor to make a "priority shift," if you so desire.  And it will not cost you one cent; it's all right here for the taking!  I'm not saying that curriculum has no value, nor that I have all the answers that only the Lord can give you!  But I am saying that if you come to the Lord with your ears wide open, He will provide for your true needs.  

   

   

WHAT SHOULD I GET FIRST?

    

I know that it can get really expensive to go and purchase a lot of books. Some of them might be available at your library or church library so check there first. Next, if they aren't available I'd really recommend that you get these two things at least. One is the Guide-a-log as it covers so much that reading (and digesting) it can really be a mini "season of re-education" all by itself. 

  

While you are reading that, I'd suggest that, if you have children age 12 and under, you also purchase the Homeschool Jumpstart Navigator.  If you have children age 12 and up, get Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+la, and begin with the the Jumpstart chapter right at the beginning. That way your kids are not waiting for you to complete your re-education before they can get started.  As someone wrote earlier, that season of re-education may take a long time as many of us find that it becomes a lifestyle of learning.

   

Here's what another mom wrote...

  

 

       

All I can tell you is what has hit me the hardest, but for each person what they need is different...  Barb's Guide-A-Log is the absolute first thing to get if you don't have that. The many mini-articles are an excellent encouragement in your time of seeking. 

   

A lot of her resources I already had, and the seeds were planted over the past few years, but something last year seemed to "tip me over the edge" so to speak into a whole new way of living.  For me (and I can only speak for myself), it was Barb's "Out of Fear & Burnout; Into Focus, Freedom & Refreshment" message.  Then Shepherding a Child's Heart, which was very difficult for me to read ~ very convicting.  I had to put it down many times because my poor soul could not handle it and I felt that the book was continually pointing at me telling me I was a failure in "shepherding" ..... and I was. (So it was what I needed to hear even if I didn't want to hear it.) Then also To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl was excellent (and inexpensive) to show that it is all from the heart... but that showed me how I was not enjoying my children. 
  
I began to get the idea that not only would it be okay to have fun with my kids, but that it was my job!!  I was supposed to enjoy them!  I began to see them as souls, rather than little people to feed, clothe, and read to.  This was the light for me, and perhaps I've been hearing it for years, a tape here, a speaker there. But I struggled so hard ~ wasn't I supposed to "make sure they obey?" as my main job in life?  I gave that thinking up so to speak, and decided to try to communicate to their hearts instead. And I find that it is fruitful!  Just like I read in someone else's post, if our hearts are not "together", I am just wasting time. I am no better than the public school teacher whose kids stare out the window for hours on end.  What's the point? So instead of books (even all that good literature that I used to shove down their throat!), we try ~ or rather, I try ~ to make sure that we are meeting spiritual needs with one another, and we try to enjoy life, whatever that means to us.  
  
I don't want you to think we don't do anything like schoolwork ~ we must, in order to enjoy life!  They must know handwriting, reading, research, math skills, etc.  But it all has to come when they need it, not when I decide to start shoving it down their throat!  We keep track of what we look up because it is interesting to us. We decorate our pages and put them in a notebook because then they are pleasing to look at.  We share what we find with each other. We minister to people outside our family by letters and other ways as we are able.     

 

   

 

We often think we need lots 'n' lots of "STUFF" to get started at what God has for us, but really we need is HIM, and to start following Him, and start doing things HIS way. 

 

 

 

 

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