GROW: Workshops for homeschool moms

TRANSCRIPT

Shanxi: Hello, this Shanxi Omoniyi, host of MPE’s “Homeschool Hints” podcast to encourage you wherever you may be on your homeschool journey.

We have a special guest today, Natalie Haber. Natalie, would you like to introduce yourself?

Natalie: Sure, yes. My name is Natalie Haber and I am a homeschool mom and I'm married to Bruce and we have five children. Harrison is already graduated and working in ministry. I have Reagan who will be a senior next year, which is unbelievable to me. I've Kennedy who's 14, Will is 10; and Caleb, 7.

Shanxi: Wow, that is amazing. And congratulations on graduating one. Thank you. So you're a pro now, right? <laugh> Do you feel like you're an expert? <laugh>. So can you tell us a little bit more about your story and how you got involved in homeschooling?

Natalie: Yes. My story is I am married to a public school educator, and so he was a public school teacher. His mother was a public school teacher, so this was definitely um, new <laugh> to everyone. And so when my daughter was three or four, the Lord started putting this on my heart to homeschool her. And of course my husband said, no <laugh>. So, but then he said, you know what? Let's save some money. You can't screw up preschool, so why don't you go ahead and homeschool her for preschool? And I said, yes sir, here we go. And so I did and I was obedient and then it came time to make the decision for kindergarten and he was like, mm, no, we're gonna go ahead and send her to school. And I didn't feel a piece about that in my heart. And so I kept praying and I ended up fasting and praying and asking the Lord because I was like, Lord, you want me to be one with my husband, so why do I feel this like change my heart to be towards what he has? Like, I want to come under that. And I still didn't feel a peace about it.

We ended up going to kindergarten roundup and Bruce was like, okay, we can leave Reagan at home and you and I can just go. And see, Reagan was reading, which you know, some kids are, some kids aren't. It doesn't matter. I've had kids that are, kids that aren't. But at this time - and it's pertinent to this story - Reagan was reading and at that time they didn't do reading groups. They didn't start working on that until after Christmas. And so Bruce was like, oh, well she's already reading. So he realized that it would put her back. And so I think that is what did it for him. And so he was like, okay, you can go ahead and homeschool.

And I guess part of this I did leave out, it makes it sound so quick, but it wasn't, it was probably months of me praying and fasting and talking and him saying, fine, you can just do it. And me saying, no, no, no, no, no, I want you to be okay with it and I want you to bless it. And I heard as I was praying, I still remember in my closet and I was like, Lord, I'm a planner. I need to know what I am doing. And I just heard that verse, my grace is sufficient for you.

So it was two weeks before kindergarten was supposed to start two weeks. And he was like, okay. Once he realized she wasn't gonna start reading groups, he was like, all right, you can do it this year, but then we'll take, we'll see about next year.

And here I am in it, Reagan's graduating next year <laugh>. So I, I've done all of my children and graduated Harrison, my oldest. And so it's just really neat, um, to see what the Lord has done and we're so immersed in community now. It's not a year by year thing anymore, <laugh>. It's like this is what we do and this is what worked for us. And so it's been really neat to see the Lord move in those areas. Yeah.

Shanxi: Wow, that's so amazing. So you didn't grow up homeschooled or anything, so what exactly caused your heart to be, you know, warm towards homeschooling?

Natalie: Honestly, we had some neighbors that homeschooled that lived in my neighborhood and I think that I just saw and a friend of mine, I had some neighbors that homeschooled and it was really unique and I like that I love family and I love the closeness and togetherness that they shared. And so I saw that, and that is where I think the Lord first started to soften my heart to that. And I also had another friend who was having babies at the same time I was in the neighborhood and she also was like, oh, I'm homeschooling. This is what we're doing. And I just, I mean at that time Harrison was in public school, my oldest. And so I was like, well this is what we do. And so I think it was through those two people seeing them that the Lord really softened my heart to it.

And it's really neat because with Harrison, he was in public school and then we felt like the Lord wanted us to move him to private school for junior high. And then after that he went to a university model school. But towards the end and through his university model school, I was still homeschooling him for some of his subjects. So he wasn't taking all of them there, but at the end he ended up, he just wanted to fully homeschool. And so that's what we did because he wanted to be able to take specific classes and different things that were more interested hi to him. And that's one of the great things about homeschooling. He loved Roman history, he loved that sort of stuff. And so he was able to really dive deep into those subjects in a way maybe he wouldn't have been able to in a more traditional setting. And so that's how it ended up that I ended up graduating him from our homeschool that was already established. Right. Because of Reagan. So it's kind of a fun story.

Shanxi: Yeah, that is amazing. And what would you say to you know, young moms who may find themselves in similar situations to you? Maybe their husbands aren't fully on board yet. Maybe they have a mom-in-law or you know, some other close family member who's thinking, you know, what are you doing? Are you crazy? You could be spoiling your kids for life, <laugh> kinda thing. <laugh>

Natalie: I really think the key is number one, not to be homeschooling out of fear, but really this is something you feel specifically from the Lord that he put on your heart as a calling for your family. And I think through that he moves and so you can trust him through those difficulties. My parents definitely, neither sets of parents were warmed to this idea. I live four and a half hours away from my husband's parents, so I didn't really hear as much push back from them, but my parents definitely were, especially my mom was less supportive of it and um, was concerned. And so the interesting thing is now I have my sister-in-law is starting to just kind of do some preschool stuff with her daughter who is precious in every way. And it's so exciting and my mom just this past week said now I'm so excited that Kristen, my sister-in-law has decided to do this as well because I really see the benefit of this and what a great option it is. So you never know, like in your obedience and listening to the Lord, the Lord can change hearts. He softens hearts and how he can do that and how you're also and through your obedience, your blessing generations and other families as well, just like those people who are obedient in my neighborhood. And so it's just neat to see just in your obedience, not perfection, but just in obedience and loving.

Shanxi: That is so encouraging <laugh> because you know, I was homeschooled growing up so I have a bit of a unique story there, but I remember my parents being in New Zealand, it was a very different kettle of fish and virtually everybody you looked at was like, why are you doing this <laugh>? You know, you must be a bit odd <laugh>. Um, some of it wasn't a good way <laugh>, but I am just grateful <laugh> my parents, they really believed that they were doing the right thing and I loved homeschooling.

Natalie: Yes, well, and even like with my husband's job, I bet like he was just supportive of me and he didn't get a ton of pushback, but I get questioned a lot in that arena and that part of it. But even in that, it just was like okay, this is an opportunity to show the uniqueness of what the Lord is called our family too and what we're doing, you know? And it's not a competition, it's just obedience to the Lord for his glory in all areas. It's neat to see because I think at first when I first started I felt insecure in that area and in our choice, even though I'd heard the Lord, I still felt insecure in it, especially because of what my husband does. And it's like now fast forward all these years later and I'm like, hey, this is just another educational choice and I'm grateful for this choice and we have chosen it. Thanks. I feel so much more confident in it as you know.

Shanxi: Yeah, that is also an encouragement to know that, give or take, how many years has it been now I can feel secure in my choice? <laugh>

Natalie: Yes. I think we all have moments of insecurity and questioning and you know, especially if we have multiple children, like all of my children are different and that's been really unique too. And just seeing how some learn differently. It's always like, it's super humbling. I mean anyone with children would probably say that children <laugh>, having children in general is a humbling experience, but it's like teaching them as well. Like you're like that first one, you're like, yes, you know, I am a great teacher and then you know, three kids or four kids down and they're not reading till eight and you're like, what? Like I, I thought like, and again it's like humbling, you know? And then it all works out and they're fine. But you know, you used to think, oh that's strange. And then the Lord's like <laugh>, do you think so?

I actually just heard today someone was speaking and they said, and I thought this was so interesting and I wish I had known this, that it really doesn't matter long-term when a child starts to read, it's whether they're reading at three or four or eight, it's just about what they are exposed to, like the vocabulary in the literature. That's really what's so important for them. And so I just thought that was really encouraging too, like re and we all know the benefit of reading to our children, but I wish I had known that when we, when I had a struggling reader cuz I just thought something's wrong with me, something's wrong with this. And it was like, no, it all clicked when it was supposed to and it ended up being fine, you know? But I didn't know that either at the time.

Shanxi: Well, there is that magical moment when you know you're no longer learning to read or reading to learn and that that moment when it just clicks over is incredible.

Natalie: Yes, it ended up like that was one of my favorite things in teaching and yet that's what I was so afraid of like, oh can I teach a child to read? You know? And it like, it's not hard and and like you're saying it's like this is amazing.

Shanxi: So how exactly did you get involved with MPE?

Natalie: Well, one of my friends actually asked me to be part of the conference committee and so I didn't know a lot about it and I was like, well sure. And so I joined the conference committee and I ended up being part of the workshop side of it and I loved it. I loved the people, I loved getting to pick out speakers that would come to conference and encourage women. So I ended up being a really good fit for me.

Shanxi: Yeah, that's amazing. And from there you just launched into a whole lot of different other initiatives and other <laugh> approaches. What was the starting point or catalyst for the newest thing that you've undertaken?

Natalie: Yes, for GROW, I'm so excited about this, I can really see the Lord's hand in it even with doing that for conference committee and specifically the workshops. But it was so exciting because I was talking to some of the people, maybe you <laugh>, that work at MPE and I was like, hey, what if we did a workshop for women at the, you know, the school year? Something that could get them really excited about another school year of teaching, but we could come and we could be encouraged. And so we got the green lights and we did it and we had an amazing response. It sold out within days and so we knew from that point we were on to something and afterwards we had incredible feedback and people started asking, are we gonna do this again? And at that point we were like, what? Yeah. And then it just kind of snowballed from there. So it's been really fun.

Shanxi: What do you think have been some of the challenges or like some of the surprises that you weren't expecting along the way?

Natalie: Well, one of the good challenges is, like I said, we had one at the beginning of the school year and then one in December and both of them sold out very quickly within a week. And so that is a good challenge to have, just being able to serve all the women that are wanting to come encourage all the women. You can't do it with everyone, but that's kind of a challenge. The other challenge is just kind of funny logistics, it's new we're learning like how to get everyone their food <laugh> like you know, and how to get people their coffee and the right coffee with the right name. So those are some of the funny things like we're learning along the way how to make those things go more smoothly.

Shanxi: Yeah, that's awesome. I mean it's really important. It's like the details and then the big picture and how those two mesh <laugh>.

Natalie: Yes. And people are so gracious with us as we're learning because every event is at a different venue and so we're learning something new through each venue as well. So it's not just like it will work at one, it'll work at the other. It doesn't always work that way.

Shanxi: What have been some personal triumphs and accomplishments with growth?

Natalie: Just the fact first of all that I get the opportunity to do this has been so incredible and so humbling. Just to see the Lord's hand in that and to build something from the ground up has been incredible. It's so fun and so exciting. For me personally, a funny story is I never saw myself as a speaker. I've loved encouraging women one-on-one. I have loved doing small groups in my home, but as far as a speaker, it's not something I ever wanted to do. And so one of my other friends, a good part about Npe is you make a lot of good friends. We have great community through volunteering and helping. It's been a really amazing part for me personally. But one of my friends called and she said, Natalie, the Lord put you on my heart to speak at grow, excuse me, to speak at the women's encouragement day, which I love and it's my favorite day of the whole entire year.

She goes, whoop, wait before you say no, I want you to at least pray about it. And I was like, I am not a speaker. No. She goes, well you just pray about it. I said fine. So I went home and I told my, my oldest son and my husband and both of them were like, you're saying yes. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no my husband you are the speaker and my son and ministry, you are the speaker. And they're like, no, no, you are the speaker. And I was like, no, no, no, no. And so I reluctantly said yes and I was so shocked that when I went up and spoke to so many women, it just really unlocked a passion inside my heart for that. And so personally that has been something that I didn't see coming and it's been so exciting to see the Lord develop in me. It's also again super humbling because I know this is only the Lord <laugh>, I know this isn't me naturally, but it was so exciting to encourage so many women on a broader scale and both of them like have been through saying yes and like, okay, Lord, yes, I will volunteer at MPE, which has been amazing. And both of them, yes, and just saying him saying yes to him through this community and through this organization has been really fun. It's a really great place to get involved.

Shanxi: What has been some of the feedback that you've received from just the two events so far that really spoke to you and and ministered to you?

Natalie: We've had so much positive feedback and like I said, that's really humbling. One of the fun things for me is to see feedback. I can just really see how the Lord has known exactly what I personally needed to kind of like get my little sea legs and like start building and keep going. So that's been exciting just to see um, how it blesses and encourages women, which is really the whole point and what I want to do and I feel like is so needed in community.

Shanxi: If people wanted to join and just help you with the planning stages or like volunteering, how would they get involved? Would you just encourage them to just, you know, start from the ground level like with you?

Natalie: Yeah, I think that they could reach out to me over Instagram, which is growmpe. It would go to me personally. But also just to get involved with the organization in general. Like we have so many different places. Like I said, for me I started doing workshops as well with Shanxi and my friend Jacklynn Walters and that was something also like I didn't see coming my, it just, it was so exciting that once you just get involved the Lord opens those doors that maybe you didn't even expect.

Shanxi: Yeah, and this is exciting, it's going into new territory but um, say over the next few years or so, what are some goals that you have for GROW that you are looking forward to meeting?

Natalie: Well you know, I'm very idealistic and I love to dream <laugh> so it's exciting to just pray. I pray over each event and I have a team that we pray and ask the Lord like his vision for GROW. And one of the things that is going to start, that's going to come up is we're gonna have something called GROW popups. And so we are are going to have three or four events throughout the year that maybe can minister to 35 to 55 women. But then these popups will come up and within two weeks we're gonna have a small localized event that's a little more intimate, a little more specific. So it might not minister to as many women, but if you're a woman who needs that, like say you are really searching for help with homeschooling high school or maybe you found out you have illness or your husband has had an illness, how to homeschool through difficulty or different things like that, this will be for you.

Those popups will pop up, come quick and they're gonna be intimate and fun. So I'm really excited about getting a little more specific to specific needs of women and how we can encourage in those, you know, because we need, sometimes we just need encouragement in the trenches and going to something like that, I hope we'll encourage them. We can lock arms, we can pray and they can leave saying yes, I can do this. And outside of that I would love to maybe in a year or two do a women's retreat. Like an overnight retreat would be just so exciting to me. So that would be something long-term, a year or two, but that's kind of what we're thinking going forward as

Shanxi: Did you wanna talk about March 9 and the next event?

Natalie: Yes, I'm so excited. I love ambiance. Like I think it's important, like the plants in the background, you know, it just kind of sets the tone, it sets my heart at peace. And so we are going to have this next event in old Overland Park at the Vintage House. Obviously it's a vintage home and it's darling like I went there and it's two bedroom, it's just a little tiny house. I was like, how could I live here <laugh>? I just, I loved it. So I think it's a perfect setting. We're going to have like think tea party garden party themed food and coffee and drink. So that alone, the ambiance, the food, the setting is gonna be beautiful. You'll come in, you'll be encouraged. Hopefully though it is March, we'll have good weather. You never know, it could be a tea party in the snow <laugh>, but, and then the Lord so graciously has brought along Rachel Alsbury and I'm so excited I've got the opportunity to have coffee with her and meet with her and she's going to be our speaker. So I will speak on whatever the Lord has given me. And then Rachel will also speak, she is a contributor for Wild and Free, so it can really minister to those types of moms. I'm really excited to have her come alongside and share, she's a great wealth of resource as well.

Shanxi: And then March 31-April 1 too, we have our conference and GROW’s going to be there as well.

Natalie: Yes, yes. GROW will be at conference. I believe that we are going to have t-shirts hopefully for sale at conference and so that's exciting to have a booth. I have a team again of wonderful women who are very visionary and artistic and so I'm excited for that phase. And then I'm also going to be speaking on navigating seasons of motherhood and a life giving home. So that's exciting too, to be able to minister to women. I feel like at this point I have, I have navigated a lot of different seasons, <laugh> motherhood, having children that are 25 to seven, I'm hoping don't be an encouragement but at least you'll be able to laugh and say maybe I don't wanna do it that way. Or maybe you do. Hopefully it'll be something that could point you back to the Lord. There may be a popup coming in April, maybe <laugh>. So that will be something to look for. We're excited about that as well.

Shanxi: That is awesome. Well thank you so much, Natalie. It's been, as always, just so much fun talking with you. And is there anything that we haven't covered yet or that we missed? Maybe we're just talking about it. We want people to um, get involved as much as possible. You know, wherever the Lord leads you. There's been some very exciting times with the homeschooling community just because there's just been, you know, such widespread interest. But there's also a lot of challenges too just because, you know, people oftentimes don't know where to start or they feel overwhelmed or you know, it's just outside pressures. Maybe they're facing challenges even within their own family about the idea of homeschooling and just being able to reach out to people wherever they may be.

Natalie: Yes, I can totally understand those challenges and those feelings. So I'm hoping that through grow and through MPE, that we can encourage these women and we can link arms cuz community is so important and like you said, it's a place you can get involved and I've loved it. It's been wonderful and even you, Shanxi, have been so encouraging and so wonderful to work with as I bring you idea after idea and it's just been really fun. And so I think there is a place that women who might feel overwhelmed that hopefully they can come or even if going to an event isn't their thing, but hopefully they can see something on social media or get connected through social media. I know that we have a big following on Facebook, a big Facebook group where they can find community through that as well. So there's lots of different avenues. If maybe in person isn't your thing, you can at least do it over social media or whatever. That is where women, we are here to encourage women and equip them that they can do this and this is something that they are able to do. So it's exciting.

Shanxi: Thanks so much for listening. We hope you are encouraged in your homeschool journey.

Please continue the conversation with us on our website, midwesthomeschoolers.org, or email us at podcast@midwestparenteducators.org. We're also active on social media if you'd like to connect with us there. Thanks to Kevin McLeod of incompetech.com for providing this royalty-free song Wholesome, which is licensed under creativecommons.org.