Homeschooling is not for wussies!

August has been a whirlwind of activity. Unfortunately, nearly none of which has been related to our actual Kenya departure. From getting the house ready for the virtual tour pictures on August 1st and getting last minute repairs, painting and detail cleaning done before the sign went up in the front lawn on August 8th, to helping out with VeBS at church that same first week, August was already well underway before we caught a breath!

Then came a vacation, the likes of which we really haven't had as a family since Ashley was born. Having your own business, as some of you know, necessitates being available for your clients when they need you. As the only employee of NetResults, that meant not being too far away should a major computer catastrophe occur! So, most of our "vacations" were long weekend get-aways with the typical flurry of trying to make sure everything was in order before leaving, calls from the road as we're heading out of town, and never really being able to "shut down" because in a day or two we were back at work. This trip, although we did have a flurry of activity before leaving, had us making no calls from the road and no anticipated problems or piled up work upon return. What a huge blessing!!! It was also Jeff's last week at UPS, although kind of an absent week! :)

About halfway through the week, Jeff called Schwans and made sure he still was expected on the 18th, then called UPS to tell them that the resignation he had put in two weeks earlier was really in effect and he wouldn't be in on Monday. We ended up shortening that vacation due to a rained out camping trip, but came home and vegetated for a while in the drizzle here! All-in-all it was a great time for us to come together as a family. Ashley was a real trooper in the car and we all had a great time.

Jeff started at Schwans on the 18th. After cramming in a couple of Dr. appointments (since the awesome UPS insurance only holds out till the end of the month), Ashley and I went to Montana on the 20th to visit with family and a friend of my Mom and Dad's, and to take some family heirlooms back to the Hitch homestead, fondly referred to as "The Ranch." Ashley had a great time as she got to play with two greyhounds, a schnauzer, two cats, and a herd of bum lambs. Other than a fat lip from the lambs (indirectly), puncture wounds on her leg from the ranch cat (directly), and a piece of raw barley stuck in her throat sideways, she faired very well! :) I enjoyed catching up with family and spending some time at The Ranch which holds some great memories from my childhood.

We'd tried to touch base several times with COVA (Colorado Online Virtual Academy) to get Ashley's enrollment finalized. She'd taken the requisite placement tests before we'd left on our first jaunt, but we hadn't been able to connect with the placement liason. So, when we returned from Montana, we made another effort and actually connected! The online portion was set up and the curriculum loaded by Wednesday, so Ashley and I spent the rest of the week trying to navigate the maze of COVA and get the hang of managing school, snacks, lunches, dinners and everything else that comes with trying to keep a house ready for "show."

Which finally brings me to the title of this blog. To all of you who homeschool your child, especially if you have more than one that you homeschool, my hat is off and waiving accolades for you in the air. I have always had a high regard for you, but having walked in your shoes for 2½ days now, I'm in stunned awe! COVA has a lot of helpful information, but you have to take the time to drill through and read it all. Trying to fit that into an already overpacked day has been challenging to say the least. I know it will all fit into some sort of order/ routine at some point. My prayer is that it happens sooner rather than later! God, in His grace and with His humor, spoke to Ashley and I in a devotion on Friday morning from Isaiah 41:10, which says in part, "Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Whew! Isn't it nice to know He's going to carry us through the tough times?

So, until we get the hang of school, I'm going to need a lot of help if moving in October is to be a reality. There is no way I'm going to be able to pare down this house, and homeschool, and be Mrs. Vigil the Homemaker, and still be ready to go to Kenya by the end of September. Be watching for a "mobilizer" newsletter or drop me a line and let me know when you can help out. I've got a list for you to pick from! If you've got the time, we've got the need!

Which reminds me: we've only had about 50 people actually take the survey online that tells us if you want to get our newsletters (we have 3 -- a regular newsletter, a prayer letter, and a mobilizer letter) and which one(s) you want to get. Some of you have told us you want to be on the receiving end, but many haven't. We truly don't want to send out newsletters to people who are averse to receiving them. So, if you haven't taken the survey, please do. Here's the link: Vigil Kenya Survey . If you don't want to take the survey, then just email me and let me know which newletter(s) you want to receive. Some of the information overlaps, but not all.

Thanks for praying for us and thanks for loving us. We feel very surrounded by both!

We're still here!

Nope, we haven't left yet. And I, for one, am actually glad that God knows best!! Some things have gone exceedingly well...

• God has brought in all of our one-time needs and 33% of our monthly needs. AND He did it in -- get this -- the last 2 weeks of July! THANK YOU GOD!
• My business closed and I got most everything done before leaving (can you ever get everything done?)
• Jeff took the full-time job with Schwan's (thank you for your prayers on this decision) to compensate somewhat for my lack of income.
• We decided upon COVA (Colorado Online Virtual Academy) as a homeschool alternative for Ashley while we remain here in the States.
• We got our house cleaned and listed to sell. (The cleaning part was the hardest. Everything got moved/shoved into the garage, so now we're at the "Where's the...?" stage.)

I'm not really sure how I thought I'd be able to finish up work, get the house listed, clean/sell/move everything out, help with our church's VeBS (very exciting Bible school), and allow time for all of us to say goodbye to friends and family all before August 15th. Call it blind optimism...or just chalk it up to my ever-present over achiever mentality. Whatever it is, I ended up overcommitting and we're still here.

Did you read the blog about how God brings what you need when you need it? He has been so awesome to provide us the encouragement we needed to move forward and bring in the huge amount of support, but He knew way before I did that August 15th was a pretty aggressive deadline. So, now, the big question is, "What's your next departure date?" Hmmm. Dare I set another? :) Duh! OF COURSE I dare!

God's already shown us that he will take care of the funding side, and that He can do that pretty much overnight. Since He's doing that, I'm betting that the house sale and vehicle sale won't slow Him up too much either. So I'm pretty much thinking that the time frame will be based on how fast I move. I've had some offers for help, so adding in that factor and allowing for homeschool time, let's pray for a departure by ..... mid October! Will you pray with us?