Our family economy currently consists of farming, writing, and teaching. And the fun of all of these is that we do them together. We just returned from a fantastic weekend in Bismarck for the North Dakota Homeschool Convention where Rory spoke on Durable Trades, The Family Economy, and The College Question. We met so many quality people and once again, our hearts are full that this work is our calling. I told Rory, “I just love what we’ve been called to teach!”
His workshops were very well received, and while he was giving his talks the rest of us manned a booth in the vendor hall. Or played legos. Or took Abel for walks. Or shared lengthy discussions over who gets to push the button in the elevator next time. Much to our delight, our booth was right across from Chuck Black, Ivar’s favorite author. We had a great time getting to know him and his wonderful wife—there is sort of a vendor life where you get to know the people right around you during the down time. We also made friends with a Mennonite family selling school books next to us. Hattie spent a lot of time over there chit-chatting and is pumped because she now has more penpals.
The very best part was meeting families who resonated with Rory’s talks or his book and wanted to share what the Lord is doing in their own family. And then we get to encourage and pray with them. We leave these events filled to the brim with hopeful stories of how God is leading His people.
Also, we had our first Gather & Grow meetup in another state! We led a session on “Homesteading as a School Subject” and then passed the mic around and took some time to get to know each other. I asked each family to answer: “Where are you from, and how do you feel the Lord is leading your family?” About 15 families came to the gathering (mostly from the convention, but also some newsletter readers who lived in the area). There were many kindreds in the room and it was good to see local families connecting with each other for a long time afterward.
Between sessions we ate our meals out in the loading docks as outside food wasn’t permitted in the arena.
And napped as we were able.
The whole family agreed this was a very good time and so fun to be in mission together. I will say eight people in one hotel room is a lot of people, a lot of stuff, and very little floor space, but all that is the stuff of memories. And we just made some very happy family memories in North Dakota.
