The keynote speaker for the OCHEC Conventions was such an encouragement! I had never heard Steve Demme speak before. I knew he was behind the Math-U-See curriculum and doubted he would have anything to really speak into our lives. Simply put, I didn’t think it would be relevant to general homeschooling rather specifically math. I am please to say, I was wrong!!!

Of course, I didn’t think I was as he began because he started talking about how he’d had a big decision to make to effect change and keep his family together, if I understood correctly. In the end, he had a real encounter with God and realized that not only does God love him but God actually likes him too. And you know what? God likes you and I, as well as loving us. There is a difference.

Well, he had my attention. He proceeded to say that God’s plan is for you, the parent, to educate your children. He then used part of what I call the homeschooler’s scripture: Deut. 6:5-7:

⁵ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

⁶ And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

⁷ And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

The key though is verse five. I must love the Lord with ALL my heart, soul, and might. Then out of the place I am to teach my children diligently, in all aspects of living life together. Love is the basis for it all. We are to parent as God has loved us.

Another interesting thing Mr. Demme said was that our vertical relationship with God is the most important thing. The more love we take in, the more we exude that love, to the point of laying down our life down.

Oh! I’m telling you the whole thing was soooo good! It really was like being given a glass of cold water on a very hot day: refreshing.

If you would like to hear the exact thing I did, you can order the mp3 as a download at the ochec site here.  I found a podcast with a similar title on his website but it is clearly shorter than the ochec mp3, but you can try it.

It was really very good. I encourage you to get the audio and listen to it. It was very refreshing (and I’m not even actively homeschooling any longer, since my children are all grown and graduated now).

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº