Notes from Homeschooling Mom's Retreat

Dear Kids,

I just got back from a homeschooling mom's retreat this weekend. I was on the committee for it this year, and I loved that aspect of it.

We had a few speakers come and talk with us about various things this year. The theme was "Seek"... to come desiring to seek for God. I have so many thoughts and experiences with it all... I am actually not sure where to start. I think I will go one by one with the various speakers and things I gleamed from them and go from there:

Leslie Householder:
She has written a few books on the laws of vibration and other physics laws of the universe... God's laws of science in actuality. There were several big reminders for me with what she had to talk about.

But the BIGGEST blessing from her presentation was the confirmation from the spirit that we are were we are today because of the work we put in all those years ago.

We did SO MUCH inside work for the first 8 years of our marriage... all the while everything was just crashing down around us in so many different ways. We ended up getting so burnt out with it all, trying and failing and trying and failing and trying and failing and doing and getting back up and doing it all over again. But we were absolutely doing our BEST at applying everything that we had learned and were learning.

The whole gap inside of that was that we were putting a timeline and the "how's" involved too much instead of giving that to the Lord to solve. We were assigning that "if we do this then in 6 months this 'should' happen". THAT was the falsehood. The Lord is in charge of the timeline, we are not. The Lord is in charge of the details of the how's, we are not. The Lord is in charge of partnering together with our creation. HE is the one who helps us create, we cannot do that on our own.

I see now so clearly that we are where we are right now because of all the work we did. We expanded ourselves so much in those years, and we created our life for the better 5-10 years later. Truly what we do RIGHT NOW IS creating our life in 5-10 years.

It's fascinating because our answers didn't come in the was that were were "expecting" them too. We still have yet to really get a business started and under our feet again, but the answers came in different ways, and very beneficial ways.

I also was warned by the spirit that if we don't keep going on that self improvement and creation path together with God, then we will stagnate and our 5-10 year state will NOT be improved. We have to keep reaching, keep improving, keep expanding our souls and our desires. We must not stop. We must not give up. We must go back to that "feeling" space.

Feeling it. Feeling what it will be like. Feeling the completion. Thinking about the end of our life and what feeling we will have. Truly feeling it on a daily basis, then give it up to God. We still get to work. We can't just sit around and do nothing and see results... but we also can't try to take over too many of the details that are God's to have. I really felt this reminder VERY powerfully.

I was also reminded that I must get a clear vision of what I really want our 20-40 year life situations to be. I haven't been clear enough about that. I haven't been clear enough about my dreams and desires, really becoming too complacent about it all.

I understand why I have been, it's because of the time of life I'm in. I also am going to be very patient with myself about what I can give to projects outside of my home, because TRULY my home is where I am needed right now. But I also can't stop creating in my mind, in my heart, in my visions, in my dreams. I need to keep up with both.

I LOVED all of those reminders. I was so grateful to receive those reminders as well. Especially the confirmation of the spirit about our lives and our power of creation.

I feel like I also needed to get clear about my patriarchal blessing as a part of my vision and what that includes. I have been stagnant about my gifts... but not in a bad way. Just because I have been so involved in my children's upbringing. That has been a necessity.

Also, I have a book in me. I'm going to identify what it is.

Some quotes I wrote down for me to remember:

"There is more good that God wants done than there are people willing to do those things"
"See the end as you intend"
"What's it going to feel like when....(then answer the question with feelings instead of words, get emotionally connected to the experience)"
"I will write a book and let THAT be my seminar"
"There is something inside of me that needs to come out"
"Doing something with intention, repeated intentionally, brings those results"
"Set the intention, FEEL what it will be like, and then get to work, the 'how's' will be shown to you"
"Be grateful before it happens... THAT is faith"
"Telling the truth in advance"
"Every child has an innate desire to know ho to fulfill their purpose"
"Just help them love learning, they will want to learn what they are drawn to, let them figure out what they want to learn... help them know how to take a passion and bring it to the world"
"They have a life's mission they will fulfill and there are intuitions and tutoring happening from the other side to help them with their mission"
"Turn them over to God and give them the space they need to do their their own flow"
"There are more epiphanies to discover if you will JUST take the time to PONDER"
"You can't make decisions for your children based on a fear mindset because your answers will not be inspired"

Hank Smith:
His presentation was about happiness. It was also full of really good reminders for me, and really simple ways of getting them done. He talked also about relationships of low trust and high trust. THAT was the section that I truly loved the most. It helped me identify how I can build relationships of higher trust with my kids and with my spouse.

Some quotes I wrote down for me to remember:
"Just like the art piece 'Starry Night' by Van Gogh, our lives are made up of hundreds of thousands of brushstrokes. Same with motherhood, it is made of 100,000+ brushstrokes. It is about the consistent application of different systems and behaviors that make the difference"
"Give children $30 to give away during Christmas time and see how they come alive thinking about how to use it"
"Happy people get enough sleep... your kids deserve a happy mom MORE than they deserve a clean house"
"Everyone has a book in them"
"YOU have specific gifts and talents and you NEED to use them regularly"
"When you are using your gifts you AREN'T tired, it is part of your flow and rejuvinates you. Give yourself permission to use them"
"You can't 'MOM' like someone else, just like your husband can't 'DAD' like someone else. Stop comparing and notice the good in the way YOU do things, NOT trying to be someone else"
"You are supposed to have issues in life, this is what causes us to keep coming back to God"
"4 things inside of building trust with someone: Frequent interaction, personal interaction (leaving with good feelings), positive interaction and LOW RISK involved (they don't feel like they are going to be attacked whenever they are around you"
"If you work on the low risk trust relationship building blocks, then you will have high trust relationships where you can give critical feedback, experience innovation together, seek help from that person, and be productive together"

Greg & Rachel Denning:
I ATE UP this presentation. They have been traveling together around the world as a family for about 11 years. The stories they shared were so soul expanding, I absolutely loved it. What I loved the most was how "out of the box" they are in their thinking. Not fear based AT ALL. I loved it.

Some quotes I wrote down to remember:
"My mission is to become a superb human being"
"From wherever we are, we can level up"
"The power in our homes lies in your heart set, your mind set and your tools and systems in place"
"A mind once expanded can never return to it's original dimensions"
"Once you commit, then the creativity happens"
"Stop hacking at the branches and get to the root of the problem"
"God told me 'You carry him (Greg carrying his son), and I will carry you"
"You do 60 minutes of learning everyday, do it together with your kids"
"Look at your kids and realize that they need growth experience outside of you and outside of themselves in order to become the human being you are trying to cultivate"
"We don't rise to the leel of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training - Archilochus"
"Influence is neither automatic and episodic... Influence has to be earned, especially with our children"
"All I see is the goodness in your (Don Quixote)... THIS IS WITH YOUR KIDS! See the goodness in them"
"We need a better story that we are living, kids will take a 'story' of meaning and purpose and give them a dream that's meaningful"
"We can take anything and move from transactional to transformational with a little bit of effort and intention"
"Be intentional about your family culture and help to irraticate the fear"

OTHER THINGS:

There were a few other things that I really want to remember about the weekend... a family brand. Have them help with images, colors, words, etc. to make a family brand to put on t-shirts, backpacks, swag, etc.