Homeschool Co-op

I don't know if any of you participate in a co-op but it is wonderful. We had our first meeting today. I ws nervous as Alex and Nathan do not do well in new situations. We got there at 9:00. There were about 150 kids there from newborn to high school. The worship team consisted of all teens and they were really good. We sang songs and then all the nursery kids were dismissed. I had to leave the three older boys there to find their teachers. Luckily Carl came with me to get the kids off to the right classroom. The church where it is at is huge and I am not exagerating. It is Open Bible times about five. It has four wings, a chapel, and worship center, two libraries, a store and even a little coffee bar area. I got lost the first time going to registraion meeting. The kids all got off to their rooms great. I went to my first hour bible study. I signed up for a Moms in Touch prayer group. It is definately out of my comfort zone as I do not like to pray out loud. It was great just having a time of prayer for our kids. Everyone prayed that Alex would not get upset and freak out like he normally does in new situations. It felt like the hand of God just reaching down and giving me and Alex peace about the whole morning. We prayed for about 45 minutes and it was my favorite part of the morning. After the first hour was up I had my service hour. I signed up to assist in Nathan's class because he can be a handful sometimes. The younger kids in that group kind of sat all together so I just sat at their table and helped them. Nathan ended up being bored and laid down on the floor. I guess I need to talk to the head teacher about his SPD, how he constantly need to be moving. After the second hour was up I had 15 minutes to run all over the church to pick up all six kids. I was exhausted but the smiles on the kids faces was worth it all. Alex especially. Alex was given an assignment by Carl to find the names of two new people. When I went to pick him up the first words out of his mouth were "Mommy, Sterling and Clay." I felt like I was going to cry. What a breakthrough for my shy guy. I just wanted to shout praises to the Lord. I had worried and when I finally placed Alex and his fear in the Lord's hands I had peace and the situation was great. One of the ladies in the prayer group asked that the Lord would bind the spirit of fear in Alex and I guess I had never thought of it that way. It was just so great to see all the kids smiling and having fun with other kids. I am looking forward to every Thursday this semester. The kids are already talking about what classes they want to be offered for the fall. It was nice to have some time to myself and know that the kids were getting educated and having fun. Here are the classes that each of the boys are taking.

Alex - Digging Up history
Character Sketches
William - Animals in Literature
A Pocket Full of Books
Nathan - Animals in Literature
Missionary Adventures
They hire a preshcool teacher to work in Esther's classroom so even she is learning. I praise the Lord for the women who put this all together and keep it running.