The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.

author unknown

If you’re sad and shopping, watch your wallet: A new study shows people’s spending judgment goes out the window when they’re down, especially if they’re a bit self-absorbed.

The chains of habit are too strong to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

— Samuel Johnson

Midwinter Homeschool Convention 2008

We are profoundly grateful to have been able to serve at Midwinter 2008! It is practically impossible to capture the two day event for those who did not come, and explain it in a way that makes sense! We saw an abundance of grace, while watching the Lord move quietly in the hearts and minds of many of the attendees at Midwinter 2008. We laughed, and cried, were challenged, expanded and stretched, learned great things about homeschooling, new ideas and ways of reaching our children and were challenged in our personal character and walk with the Lord. We lived without the great chocolate so promised, without coffee, dessert or snacks! We saw people step up to the plate and volunteer to do things, as they needed done, in the midst of emergencies and unexpected situations. Crossroads was AMAZING every step of the way – Rob Aubrey and Mike McClure (our fabulous sound guy) consistently going above and beyond to make MWC a success! We are so grateful to be able to serve with the many families who worked so tirelessly to make Midwinter work, many behind the scenes! Thank you for being a part of Midwinter 2008!

So how did the world’s most imperfect homeschool convention go? From our point of view, as organizers, it was incredible, wonderful, fun, exhilarating, a time of encouragement, edification and equipping, a time to laugh and cry, make new friends, see old ones, and to grow in our homeschooling journey (not to mention exhausting!) Here is a behind the scenes look…..

Some highlights –

Friday night began with our volunteers helping get the convention hall ready for vendors! We had the help of several homeschooling families, for which we are very thankful, including the Suarez & Foster families. After we got the Books Bloom library into the vendor hall, and they began the long task of pulling all of the books forward and getting read for the event, I suddenly realized that I had not seen hide nor hair of our caterer. Concerned, we called, leaving a message. We got a phone call back from a relative telling us that Cathy Hyatt had fallen getting things ready for Midwinter, needed an MRI and was not going to be able to come that night as she was sore, but would be there the next day, bringing the Winter Wonderland cake we had all looked forward to. Knowing that Cathy had broken her neck last summer, this put me in a silent panic for her. Would she walk, let alone cater again? All of the vendors quickly came together, joining hands in prayer for Cathy, lifting her up to the perfect Healer. Concern for Cathy and a lack of news dominated much of the undercurrents of the convention.

The Registration Booth was ran by our own Debbie Stover (who can do ANYTHING!) with two non-homeschooling moms who volunteered (and ended up getting a tremendous amount of GREAT information about homeschooling and even impacting their children with living books!) They registered everyone, got them to fill out their door prize slip and our fabulous homeschool boys gave them two bags full of homeschooling catalogs and goodies!

Homeschool dad Steve Sensenig began MWC Friday night, playing the piano beautifully as people registered and filtered in. Steve is incredibly talented, and has a way of playing that soothes the soul. Hymns and songs of worship and praise filled the church. (Steve is from Boone, NC and had almost been trapped in an ice storm) He played beautifully all weekend and we are so thankful!

It was exciting to see how many COUPLES attended MWC! Dads were everywhere and that was a complete blessing to see how many attended, eager to learn along with their wives!

Introduction to Homeschooling Night/Date Night With Dad began with a prayer by Gary Bloom, a quick welcome and HSLDA attorney Dewitt Black talking on the Legal and Legislative Issues in TN. It was such an honor to have HSLDA at Midwinter, able to counsel home educating families on their rights and responsibilities and folks loved having Mr. Black there. Our Keynote Speaker, Jan Bloom followed with a talk on loving literature and great books, and being the “Keeper of the Books,” inspiring attendees to read and share living books with their families. Jan had us giggling from the get go!

The highlight of the evening was our “Inside the Mind of Dad ~ Homeschool Dad’s Panel.” Four homeschool dads gave a brief introduction, and then we opened up the floor for questions, which they bravely answered! Encouraging their wives, father led home education, creative ways to work and still be involved in educating your kids, teaching your kids, doing “real life” with your kids, and discipline were all discussed – with insightful, wise prayerful answers. We truly got glimpses inside the minds of 4 dads, and it was great for moms and dads alike! We will definitely have the Dad’s panel next year!

Door prizes were given out all evening. Folks were amazed at the quality and the amount of the door prizes. We thank all who donated so generously!

Then, that magical moment that every excited, book loving, homeschool parent was waiting for, the convention hall was OPEN for shopping! Over 20 well stocked vendor booths were downstairs including the massive Books Bloom library filled with living books, worldview materials, The Old Schoolhouse and Homeschooling Today magazines, science KitBooks, puzzles, more bookstores, CD’s, toys, games, mind benders, encouragement, prairie dolls, more books, Sonlight curriculum, several colleges and universities, HSLDA and more! Home educating parents flocked down and spent hours shopping, speaking to the vendors, getting questions answered, hugging old friends and meeting new ones. The convention hall was a happy whirlwind of voices exclaiming over books and cool things, of parents trying to discern the best for their kids, excitedly examining all that was offered. It was an absolute blast, and just like a mini version of the mega conventions from back home! Praise the Lord! (we finally had to turn off the lights so the Crossroads staff could go home and we could run home for a few quick hours of sleep!)

Saturday -

Saturday dawned very early (15 minutes of sleep for this convention organizer and speaker – YIKES!) and we roused the house, got the Blooms and the Baughns up, had breakfast (HS mom Pam Ranken brought us the most delicious homemade cream cheese sweet bread and we cooked some eggs for energy!) and then we were all off for a very full day! I quickly pulled together some sandwich stuff, boiled eggs and fruit, not knowing whether we would have lunch or not, and wanting to make sure we fed our Keynotes!

Our indefatigable registration team was open at 8am, registering all the new folks, making sure returnees had a name tag! Teams of homeschooled kids handed out the bags!

Steve Sensenig, our amazingly talented worship leader, began with beautiful, soothing instrumental music, during registration. He transitioned into hymns and praise songs, beginning the morning in worship to our Lord. I was bustling around attending to the millions of details, trying to figure out what to do about our caterer and the reality that in less than 3 hours, we would have 200 starving people and 50 vendors, worried about Cathy and what was going on, concerned with her expense in getting ready for Midwinter, when Levi (one of our HS students handing out goodie bags) motioned to me to come over. “Mrs. Baughn, listen,” he urged, “it’s your song.” I stopped for a second and came inside the sanctuary – Steve was playing one of my favorite praise songs of all time. “I See the Lord, seated on the throne, exalted, and the train of His robe, fills the temple with glory…and the whole earth is filled…and the whole earth is filled, with His glory” It was one of those perfect moments, where I just felt like God reached down and touched my Martha heart, saying stop and rest in ME, the rest will all work out. This convention is not about whether the folks have food, it is about resting, trusting in, and living your life for Him, it is about encouraging, edifying and equipping. It is about nurturing our children in their walk with Him. We begin with worship. Steve opened the 2^nd day of Midwinter with a beautiful prayer.

The irrepressible Jan Bloom kicked off the Saturday sessions as our Keynote Speaker.

and would you believe…this still isn’t done yet