September 15, 2025 • 35 mins
Ever wondered how it's possible to homeschool a large family, weather unexpected challenges, and still keep peace at the center of your home? In this episode of The Colorado Homeschool Podcast titled "8 Kids, NICU Twins, and Still at Peace—Heather Cofer’s Countercultural Homeschool Life," host Kashia Davis welcomes author, speaker, and second-generation homeschool mom Heather Cofer.
Heather brings a wealth of experience as an author for Set Apart Girl magazine and the writer behind two devotional books, including Meditations from the Laundry Basket. Married for 14 years and mother to eight wonderful children—including newborn twins in the NICU—Heather is passionate about Christ-centered parenting and learning alongside her kids. Her story is especially powerful as she navigates a countercultural approach to family life and education, shaped by her own upbringing and deep faith.
Tune in to discover:
- The heart behind raising a large family and why embracing God’s values transforms the homeschool journey.
- Actionable strategies for cultivating peace in the chaos, including how to model repentance, gratitude, and trust even when things go off-script.
- Encouragement for both new and seasoned homeschoolers on persevering with purpose, no matter your family size.
- Inspiring stories from the NICU and how living for God’s glory becomes a testimony to those around you.
Whether you feel overwhelmed in the everyday or are looking for fresh perspective on thriving in your calling, Heather’s wisdom and authenticity will uplift and equip you.
Don’t miss this episode—subscribe now to The Colorado Homeschool Podcast for more real stories, practical tips, and encouragement on your homeschooling journey!
The Colorado Homeschool podcast is a ministry of Christian Home Educators of Colorado. We have been motivating parents to disciple the next generation by embracing home discipleship that is Christ centered, parent directed, and free from government control. We invite you to join us in this mission. If you’re looking for support, resources, and inspiration on your homeschooling journey, visit CHEC.org. Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast and share it with anyone who might benefit from the wisdom shared in this episode!
If you want to support homeschooling in Colorado, go to CHEC.org/donate. Thank you! Brought to you by ThePodcastUpload.com Empowering Faith Driven Voices.
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(00:00):
God will gain the glory through our. Through the things
we do well, but then through the things we don't do well. And the amount
of times that I've been snappy, that I've been, you know, that I haven't
handled things rightly, that I've felt so
discouraged because my focus wasn't right, you know, it's just
that has happened over and over again. And yet
(00:23):
it's the Lord's grace that so often he's like, no, don't stay there. Don't stay
there.
Welcome. It's the Colorado Homeschool Podcast.
Interviewing experts, parents, graduates,
all here to help you navigate this incredible journey called
(00:44):
homeschooling. And if you're looking for resources, tips, and help,
go to check.org you'll find what you need. In the meantime,
subscribe, follow along. Well, hello and
welcome. We're so glad you're here with us. We are going to have
a really fun interview. We are with Heather, somebody that
I met. And we became really, I mean, immediately I was like, oh, I definitely
(01:07):
want to hear more from her. So I met her in person one time and
then we talked on the phone and then just stayed in touch. So, Heather Cover.
Am I saying your last name right? Heather. Okay. Heather is
an author for Set Apart Girls magazine. She's written a couple
of devotional books. And more than that, let me just tell you what she said
when I asked for a bio. She's been married for 14 years. She is
(01:29):
eight wonderful children. She's a second generation homeschool mom.
And what I love that she said is I am learning and growing
alongside my kids, and I just love that attitude. I
think homeschooling is such a beautiful journey. And the fact that you're second generation,
I think we're gonna have a lot to talk about. So welcome, Heather. Thank
you. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm so honored.
(01:53):
I am so honored that you would come on, too. Well, let's just
jump first into talking about. We're gonna talk about one of the books that you
wrote. And it's kind of the. When I reached out to Heather, I asked her
to share with us a little bit about being countercultural and living
in a world that doesn't esteem family. And, you know,
a lot of the things that we choose to do as homeschoolers are very different
(02:15):
from what the world says. So and that seems like the title of your
book, your devotion. So will you tell us about that? And
I've drawn a blank on the name, but it was Morning Through
Meditations through the laundry basket. Is that right? Meditations from the
laundry basket. Okay, there you go. So can you tell us a little bit about
that? And then we'll dive into that conversation about living in a
(02:37):
countercultural world. Yeah. So
it is, in short, a
compilation of reflections that I've written over the years.
Reflections on things that the Lord had taught me through every day,
normal life, things that were
often brought about. And
(03:00):
I was pondering truths from the Word while I was
doing things in normal life. Whether it was something like caring for my
children, it was
folding baskets of laundry, doing dishes,
things that my hands were busy with while my mind had
time to chew on truths from God's word or
(03:23):
illustrations that he views through parenting or
other life situations that help me connect the dots
between, oh, this is this big picture spiritual truth
from His Word, and this is what it's looking like
lived out in my practical situation right
now. And I would put these short
(03:45):
devotional, like, reflections, and
I had some people say, this really resonated with me,
or this is sort of like a devotional. But my desire was to
have them in a place that people that other moms like me
would be able to go through for encouragement
if they needed a few minutes. Just from another mom
(04:07):
who is seeking to honor and glorify the Lord and what's right
in front of her. I love that I tell people all the time. I
love the story of Esther and the exhortation that her uncle
gives her that we are here for such a time as this and our
home is our first ministry. So your children and
I even just love the idea that what you just said, the way you phrased
(04:30):
it of, while my hands are busy, my mind is meditating on these
truths. And what did you say? How did you just say it was so good,
Heather, that this is me living that out. And it was
your hands in the laundry and in the dishes and in the changing
diapers and in the wiping noses. There's beauty in that.
But it is so countercultural. It is. Motherhood has been
(04:52):
sort of demeaned. And so let's talk about that, because I feel like
in the times that I've met you, you are a second generation homeschool mom,
but you. You're embracing this countercultural life. And
do you see yourself as doing that? Was that intentional? Do you or do you
feel the pressure of that? I mean, what does it mean to you to live
(05:12):
a countercultural life? That's a great question.
I think that ultimately it's
not. The goal is not to the ultimate goal
is not to live a countercultural life because there are a lot
of people who live differently,
but it's a reaction to something they're seeing that's wrong. But
(05:34):
then reactions we know often just swing the other direction.
The goal is to live a life that honors and glorifies God,
which will naturally be countercultural
in so many ways, because the world
prioritizes different things than God does. The world
measures success differently than God does. And so
(05:57):
we will end up living countercultural lives as we're
seeking to honor and glorify the Lord. And we have to be
ready for that because the messages that are bombarding us are
so strong, they can be so
influential in us, they can sway us so easily
(06:17):
that we have to be grounded in God's word, which
will help us to live counterculturally as
it is done unto the Lord. And there will.
It'll help us stand firm when we're getting pushback or when we feel
that even. Even unspoken pressure from the way
we see other people living. The ways we might interpret
(06:40):
other people's. You know, they're like,
oh, you're. You're a young man with eight children.
Yeah, exactly. The things that we can
even in our own minds can interpret, however, you know.
Right. As with our insecurities or whatnot,
that the way to truly live counterculturally as
(07:04):
glorifies the Lord is simply to be a Christian, to live
and to. To trust him and. And to obey him. You know, as the song
says, trust and obey, there's no other way.
I love it. I think in songs, too. So that was good. And I like
that you clarified that. Because the goal isn't just to be different. The goal is
to be a city on a hill, a light shining. Right,
(07:26):
exactly. And be really a walking testimony of who God is
and what he's asked us to do. So very good. Very good
point of clarification. I love that. So, Heather, will you.
Because I feel like we kind of skipped it, I think we should get to
know a little bit about you because you are a second generation homeschooler. So do
you want to just tell us a little bit about that and your testimony and
(07:48):
how that shaped your thinking today? Yeah,
I. The older I get, the
more grateful I become for the
upbringing that I had. Realizing that it's just not
common to have parents who
are just really committed to honoring the
(08:10):
Lord in everything. And this even goes back to the bigger picture of,
like, they didn't set out to just be different.
Their desire all along the way through my growing up
years was to, to
glorify the Lord in the decisions that they made.
And one of those things that they felt like the Lord was
(08:33):
leading them in was homeschooling
because of their big picture idea of
education and understanding that education is not just
checking off arbitrary goals that
someone out there has set as far as this is what a good education is,
but really going back to scripture to say, what does God ask of
(08:56):
parents to train their children? It's in the
fear and admonition of the Lord. It's, it's as you're walking and
sleeping and, you know, eating and, you know, it's, it's really
holistic. And so that was part of their
decision in that time as they were
evaluating that, to say, I think this is going to help us accomplish that
(09:18):
the best at, you know, with the life circumstances. Other
ways that I saw that lived out were I
grew up overseas. And again, it wasn't just to
be different. It was that they felt like this is what obedience to the
Lord looks like. And often I saw
they were often seen as contrarians
(09:41):
because their lives did look differently even
than other Christians sometimes. But their goal was
not just to simply be different or to be radical or to
cause reactions, but to honor the Lord. And the
result was that they got pushback from that. But I had the
benefit of seeing the blessing that comes
(10:04):
from choosing to live your life in a way
that is obedient to Christ and whatever that is. First, the big
picture calling of the things that
are laid out in scripture for all believers. The
just, the simple obedience things, the big
picture will of God for your life, and then
(10:27):
trusting him that he's going to lead you in the
specific details of your life that aren't like laid out in
Scripture. Now choose homeschooling for your children or whatever it
is. Have this many kids, all those sorts of things. You know,
today I read in my devotional First
Kings, chapter 13, and it was a story of a prophet who
(10:50):
went to Jeroboam to give him bad news,
basically. And the Lord told him before he went, don't stay
there and don't eat. I want you to give the news and leave. Totally
cageous. Paraphrase. Well, he. He listened to that commandment
with Jeroboam and then he left. And another prophet of God
came and said, hey, but God told me, you should come stay with me. And,
(11:12):
and he suffered the consequences of doing that. And it just. I've been pondering that.
I mean, granted it was this morning, but just thinking about what you just said,
like walking obedience to what God has asked you to do.
It's so easy to turn to the left or the right and go, well, what
are you doing? We're talking about not, we're not talking about
foundational things, we're talking about secondary things. Right. But those, the specific
(11:33):
callings of, like you said, where to live, what, what career to have,
how specifically you're educating your children. And it's really
refreshing I am hearing you say that, that you got to see your parents. And
I love how you started with that, that the older you are, the more you
appreciate that authentic faith is
such a testimony. I mean, if we do nothing but just live that way before
(11:55):
the world, it's such a great witness. So it
sounds like that really made a difference on you. Is that something you're very intentional
with in your homeschooling, like talking to your children about,
this is what God has asked us to do and this is how we bring
him glory or why or, you know, is that something you guys are
intentionally discussing as a family? Yes,
(12:15):
we. I really seek to do that, especially in those times that we
run into that I think every homeschool mom runs into. It's like, why do we
have to do this? You know, and sometimes when it
gets. I battle the same struggle, like this
is, this is a lot, you know, when you have a child who
can't grasp a math concept. When you have a
(12:37):
child who you hear, mom, the two year old just dumped a
box of Cheerios on the floor, you know, the. And everything is
just going crazy. And it's so tempting to be like,
is, am I, am I going to fail my kids
because I can't keep my attention where it needs to be. Am I? You know,
I'm so. It. It can be so easy to second
(12:59):
guess those things. But to, yeah, but
ultimately to from my own heart first,
the amount of times that I have said this is important
because we are learning for the glory of God.
These are things that, these are things that he
designed. Math was his idea. History
(13:21):
is telling about the things that have happened. It shows us not
just even starting from, you know, the history that we have in
God's word, but you can see that played out where this. We learn about
the things that have happened in the past because it's confirming to us
the ways that God is right when he says
there are consequences to sin. These are the results of what you know. But
(13:44):
there are also incredible
testimonies throughout history of the ways that people, when they trusted the Lord.
And, you know, this is so we can learn from those things. When we're looking
at science, it's where we want this to bring
us back to worship of who God is. And so I have to
discipline my own heart to remind my children
(14:06):
of that, rather than just being. Giving into my own emotions
in that moment or repenting. If I have. Often
that has come through saying, kids, I did not handle that situation
correctly. I got frustrated with the situation, too. But that's
another part that the Lord has encouraged me.
That is also part of their training.
(14:28):
And this is what we do. Like
godly people are the people who are
seeking the Lord. Yes, exactly. And it's a life of
repentance, you know, and I think there's.
There's a quote about that. You know, the life of a Christian is just one
of continual repentance and confessing and saying,
(14:49):
I'm gonna realign myself with what God says. And so
that is how we have sought to.
To do it. Just. I've. I just asked the Lord, help me to just be
sensitive to when to interject those things about the big
picture in the middle of the. You know, the
(15:09):
science and the Cheerios on the floor. Yes,
yes. In the mundane, I think that's what happens to a lot of
families, even new homeschoolers. This is what I see happen
quite a bit. They start out and they're nervous, and then they overcome their fear.
They get going. And then the reality of Cheerios on the
floor and dishes piling up and kids fighting or
(15:31):
those little things, they. They tend to come in like the little
foxes that seal the vines. It's like they're just coming to seal the joy and
distract. And what I'm hearing you say is you're talking to
yourself, just like we see in the Bible. Right. When David does that, it's like,
self, oh, so why are you cast down? Like, it is a
spiritual battle, and it requires some discipline that we just keep taking our
(15:52):
thoughts captive. And so I know a little something that we haven't
revealed to the leaders yet. You have a couple of babies in the NICU
right now. You shared a story about the nurses in the hospital,
and you do have twins in the nicu. So
how are you? It sounds like you're living out a life that
even the nurses are making a comment on. So can you tell us that story
(16:14):
that you shared with me? And let's talk about that piece that passes all
understanding and where that's coming from. Yes.
Well, the story that I shared with you earlier Was
that one day, a couple weeks into this, it had been
a crazy situation. They came at 31 weeks and
it was a really difficult birth situation.
(16:37):
And so, you know, there's the scrambling to try to figure out, okay,
what's life going to look like for the next little while.
So a couple weeks into it, as we had just
talked and prayed through the details of it,
my mom was up here. My mom and my dad was coming up regularly,
too. Our church community had just started, like,
(17:00):
overwhelming us in the best possible ways with meals and support and
prayer and encouragement. And so we
truly felt as just
total peace that was guarding our hearts as we were just watching
the Lord provide for us in this. And so I come in and
the nurses are like, how are. How's everything at home? And
(17:22):
I said, actually, things are quite calm
and I'm so thankful. And her jaw
just about dropped to the floor. And she said,
we never hear that. And I
knew from that as well as other comments.
(17:42):
Obviously when people come in, they're like, so these are your first kids? And I'm
like, no, they're actually my seventh and eighth. And some people still
think I'm in high school because I look so young. So they're trying to figure
out, like, how is this possible? I can tell they're
like, really thrown off by so many things. But
the amount of times that I've been able to testify of,
(18:05):
either either overtly or
just by sharing the difference, you know, in it sort of a
big picture way, that of testifying to
God's grace in the middle of something like this
has just been so strengthening to my own faith
to see that we truly live God, God is true
(18:29):
to his word that when we
trust him in our weaknesses, like it says in. You know, Paul talks about his
thorn in the flesh, you know, my. And then God says, my grace is sufficient
for you. My power is made perfect through weak in weakness.
And just the simple obedience to me, like
he's been hammering to me, almost like
(18:51):
it's life and death that you give thanks. You know this.
You must discipline yourself to give thanks. Because
what I've discovered is it's brought me back into alignment with that
as I'm. Or even in Philippians where it says, be
anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then the
(19:13):
peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your
mind in him. So give thanks, cast every care on him.
He's brought me back again. And again to the basic
obedience. And he's like, trust me. That
then I've thought about. You referenced this verse earlier about
(19:33):
our lives being lights, about being the city on the hill
that. And then it says that they may see that. Right.
And then glorify your. Yes. And the amount of times that
like we're going back to this, like, we never hear that.
I thought they don't know it, but they are glorifying God
(19:54):
because they are seeing that he's being faithful
to His Word as we're just submitting ourselves to
Him. So I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel the
overwhelm of this season because it's truly an
intense thing to walk through. And it was so new and there
have been buckets of tears. But what I have
(20:16):
noticed is that it's not that those feelings don't come. It's that
obedience to the Lord gives you what you need to know how to navigate
them. And that his grace is stronger than. Yeah. So
that's. It's been, it's been a huge faith building
experience. Wow. I love it. Because,
you know, when you think about your life, it is usually not the
(20:38):
mountaintop and the great experiences where we do the most growth in our walk with
the Lord, it is in the valleys when we're going through something hard. And the
way you phrase that, like, be thankful, like,
that's the striving part, which is so funny in that sense. Striving
part is really just a submission. Right. There's a freedom. He's the
one who gets the glory. And, and just to reiterate, because I can imagine
(21:00):
there's some women listening going, I am not like that. I lose my
temper and I. And I just hope that they heard that part and don't let
the enemy rip them off. That when we make a mistake and when we
blow it and when there isn't a piece and we're not a really good testimony.
God's mercies are new every morning. And a righteous man falls seven times and gets
back up again. And that is a lesson to our children because that's
(21:21):
walking with the Lord. That's the sanctification process. Right,
Exactly. And through this time, I have had
many times, even again, going back to all this going the same
direction that I heard someone say recently that
even the, like, God will. God will gain the glory
through our. Through the things we do well, but then through the things we
(21:44):
don't do well. And the amount of times that I've been
snappy that I'VE been, you know, that I haven't handled things rightly, that I've
felt so discouraged because my focus wasn't right.
You know, it's just that, though, that has happened over
and over again. And yet it's the Lord's grace
that so often he's like, no, don't stay there. Don't stay there. Just
(22:07):
look back to me. Because that's where the. That's where the grace and
strength is going to come. The amount of times I've had to say I'm
sorry. Sorry to my husband or to my children for not, you
know, for being. Just feeling it.
And yes, they. That is
totally part of reality. And I've.
(22:30):
Yeah. I've been currently reading back through Genesis
recently and thinking a lot about the life of Abraham
and the fact that he did. There are times when he was just like,
obeying that there was no sense of question, no sense of, you know,
then other times where he's like, I should probably say
that Sarah. Yeah. Is my sister. So that, you know, and you're like
(22:52):
that. But that is. And yet in Hebrews we see that it says, you
know, by faith, you know, so that God was over
those things and he helped
Abraham to repent of those things. And it
was, it was. Those things were counted to him as
righteousness, that faith. But
(23:15):
it was all the Lord who was doing it, and he was using even
those things that were.
That he shouldn't have done to point back to himself.
And so that would be my encouragement to moms that I'm
right there with you, that I can testify to this. But it's
also largely because I've seen my own weakness in it, too,
(23:38):
that his grace is so much greater than that. I love it.
We maybe already kind of covered this or answered it, but maybe let's, let's
unpack it a little bit more. Children having children Now I only have two children,
so if you don't have eight children, don't, you know, walk in condemnation there? But
one children. One child. One children. One child or eight children
or 20. I do know people who have 20 through
(24:00):
adoption, but I, I think
the world looks at that as a burden and a sacrifice. And.
But you. You demonstrate completely and opposite mentality. So
tell us about that. Why. And you know, how do you. Is this
a mission, a personal mission for you? Like, are you and your husband, like, we're
going to have as many kids, like, you're. It's a goal or you're just trusting
(24:21):
the Lord? Unpack that for me. Yeah. That's a great
question, and I love that you shared that. It's not. It doesn't really
ultimately have to do with how many kids you have. It's just
a heart disposition to
value what God values. I have
dear friends who, you know, in our community, who the
(24:44):
Lord has not given them children, and yet they
love kids. They are loving families,
and they are the way that they. It's a heart
disposition first and foremost. And I think for
my husband and I, it's always been a desire to
look at scripture and say, God says that children are
(25:07):
a blessing. Going back to Abraham, it was just something that
I thought was so interesting. I hadn't caught before that. The first. I believe it's
the first time that God says, I'm gonna bless you and I'm gonna give you
this just abundance. And he says, what does that matter
if I don't have kids? He's basically this like. And that again,
that's the Heather paraphrase. But like, there was something
(25:29):
interesting in that. Like, his heart disposition was like,
children are a blessing. And, you know, so it was
interesting because God had a plan in that, right? That was before he had any
kids. You know, he. But you could tell his heart disposition all along
was, you know, I just. I want to glorify the
Lord. But then also the disposition was children
(25:51):
are a blessing. And so regardless of how many
we have, what that looks like, God knows that we just
entrust that to the Lord for how. What
our specific family situations, what wisdom looks like
along with the, you know, that disposition. Those are things
that are between each family, husband and wife and the
(26:13):
Lord. But often when
there's the ability to do that, you will see people who have
that mentality welcome a greater than average amount
of kids who are, you know, in the. Often you do see that.
But again, it's not the number that's specific, but our.
(26:34):
When I, when I was. We got married young, we got married at
19. And it wasn't again,
going back to the, you know, the idea of being countercultural.
It wasn't that we just wanted to have a bunch of kids because it's
different than the world. You know, we did both. I grew up in a big
family. I'm one of eight kids. My
(26:56):
husband grew up as one of four kids. But we.
And we both. And his family, his
parents wanted a lot of children, but the Lord gave them four.
And still, even in today, that's still. More than a big
family compared to the normal today. So
for us, it was just, you know, as we were looking at
(27:20):
our lives and what the Lord wanted for us. We just felt
like, you know, in these young years, even though both of us are very, you
know, I have things I love to do. I'm sort of an entrepreneurial
type of person, but I really felt like
I need to be ready to welcome children and invest
in another generation as the Lord sees fit to give them. Part
(27:43):
of my story was that I, you know, because I always wanted to be a
mom. But early on in our marriage, we thought it,
as I was experiencing some health issues that I've had
for a long time, there was the. It was sort of
put out there that it might not be possible for me to have children.
So I had to really wrestle over that and, you know,
(28:05):
surrender that to the Lord. Like, if this is not part of my story
to have biological children, I'm just going to have to trust you with that.
And he saw fit to give many children, but.
But for me, there was just the desire to welcome children as the
Lord would give them and raise a generation, whatever he would give
(28:25):
us. In the fear and admonition of the Lord, knowing that he
says in his word, that is important, that
is a priority. And so that is really how
we framed it, you know, in our. Talked about it
with each other, is just knowing that a
(28:46):
godly family, raising a family to love the Lord
is an incredible thing. The Lord says that this is important.
And so that's what our desire is, to have his heart
for family. I love it. It's so good. How old is your oldest?
He's 12. Okay. Pretty even. Stair
(29:07):
steps around two years. Yeah. I was wondering,
because 14 years married and eight bringing in
the twins, obviously that would be like every other year it seemed like. Yeah.
Wow. Well, I love it. Ah, beautiful. Well, as we are
wrapping up our time together, you. You wrote a book. You
wrote a devotional about. Again, we talked about it. Meditations from the Laundry
(29:30):
Basket. What would you say are some of the key truths about God and
scriptures that you just cling to and rely on so that you can
endure in peace when. When life is crazy or so that
you can, you know, take your thoughts captive as you're washing dishes, folding laundry,
picking up Cheerios, et cetera? Right. One is Galatians
6, 9. And let us not grow weary of doing good for induced season we'll
(29:53):
reap if we do not give up. And it was several years ago, as
I was thinking about the amount of time and investment that goes into
honoring the Lord, seeking to honor the Lord in raising Your children
in investing in your home, in showing hospitality,
(30:13):
whatever it might be that looks like obedience in that season. Often
those things are not immediate gratification.
They are long term investments that you begin to see over time. And I
remember thinking, this is sort of like planting seeds. It's like
gardening. You're planting all these seeds and the fruit does not show up the
next day. It takes time. You see evidence of growth.
(30:36):
You know, after a few, few days, a couple weeks, you might start
seeing those little green sprouts and you know, but the
fruition of that, the fruit, the blossoms, those take
time. And so for me, Galatians 6,
9 has been, this is, I'm going to plant a seed and then I'm going
to walk by faith. This is the Lord requires us to like
(30:58):
when we don't see the results of our obedience right away, to trust that he
has the bigger picture in mind. And this is also an etern eternal
vision. He says that part of obedience is storing up
treasures in heaven. So we're not judging
success based on the world's definition of success
or that what we see outwardly, we're trusting that the Lord
(31:20):
knows what he's doing. And he's saying, keep your eyes on me. Keep. Again,
if you go back to Hebrews where it says, you know, looking
to Jesus, right? Like, run the race with perseverance, looking to
Jesus, like, that's ahead. There's a. And. And so
for me it's been like this. This is not just for here and
now, because that gets really discouraging. It's for,
(31:42):
it's for. This is, this is for eternity. This is
for the sake of what's ahead. And so I cannot grow weary of what's today.
And then there's the amount of times that he has flooded me with
encouragement, whether it's through a friend, whether it's through His
Word, whether, you know, just. Even my
(32:03):
children, my husband, where he's brought the encouragement at just the
right time to say, this is, this is worthwhile, keep going,
keep being faithful. That's so good. And I just want
to make sure that we also remind ourselves that this is God's work. We
are called to be obedient. And the results of those seeds are
His Right? That's exactly right. Because I think it's really
(32:25):
easy to fall into this like, formulaic idea that this is what I'm gonna do
and all my children to be perfect and your children are gonna be centered, who
also have to figure out how to walk with the Lord of their Own accord
too. Right. And we just get to show them the way.
Exactly. Yes. Because that is going to be
a temptation for us. Even the fruit. We think we're going to do this,
(32:48):
our kids are going to respond this way. And so often that's not
the case against the long term goal. And realizing the amount of times
that I have said to the Lord,
I have to trust you because I know that in and of
myself I do not have what it takes to obey.
And so being reminded that it is his power that is at
(33:11):
work. My obedience is like the loaves and fish
that were that the little boy gave and God
was the one who multiplied it. We are called to obey in
faith, but it's so it's not adequate
for what God desires to do. But God can take it and do whatever he
wants with it. And it might look completely different than we think. The
(33:33):
outcome often does not look like what we think it's going
to look like. And praise the Lord, he knows more than we do because it's
always better, right? Infinitely better. He's so good. Infinitely. Yes.
Well, Heather, you have been a delight. It's been really good. We're going to wrap
up. We ask all of our guests when they come on. I didn't prep you
for this one. What is one? Homeschooling. Since we. We didn't
(33:55):
really talk a whole lot about homeschooling, but I think the heart of discipleship really
is homeschooling. Anyways, the. The tip
that you would give somebody that you would say is the best that you got
from homeschool perspective. One of the best and most
encouraging pieces of advice that I have received from older
homeschool moms. I remember specifically when one mom here in
(34:16):
our community who's raised children and as she shared
one time, that
we cannot teach our children everything. But
the biggest thing to do is prepare your kids to learn how to
learn so that you can.
You're setting a foundation and then you're teaching
(34:38):
them how to learn so that they can learn on their own too.
Because you can't do everything. And so keeping that
in mind has been really helpful for me. That is so good.
It also really ties in with what we were talking about. Right. We're demonstrating
to our kids how to live and then they ultimately are going to do it.
That's the success of education we're looking for. Right. So, Heather, thank
(35:00):
you. This has been so good. We're going to post in the show notes how
people can connect and find your book and hopefully
get it so thank you. This has been a delight. We really appreciate you being
here and thanks everybody for being here.
Thank you so much for joining us today. The Colorado Homeschool
Podcast is a ministry of Christian Home Educators of Colorado.
(35:22):
We have been motivating parents to disciple the next generation
by embracing home discipleship that is Christ centered, parent
directed, and free from government control. We invite you to join us in
this mission. If you want to support homeschooling in Colorado, go to
check.org donate in the meantime, share this with
your friends and make sure you subscribe. That really helps us. Thank you.
(35:50):
Brought to you by thepodcastupload.com empowering
faith driven voices.
God will gain the glory through our. Through the things
we do well, but then through the things we don't do well. And the amount
of times that I've been snappy, that I've been, you know, that I haven't
handled things rightly, that I've felt so
discouraged because my focus wasn't right, you know, it's just
that has happened over and over again. And yet
(00:23):
it's the Lord's grace that so often he's like, no, don't stay there. Don't stay
there.
Welcome. It's the Colorado Homeschool Podcast.
Interviewing experts, parents, graduates,
all here to help you navigate this incredible journey called
(00:44):
homeschooling. And if you're looking for resources, tips, and help,
go to check.org you'll find what you need. In the meantime,
subscribe, follow along. Well, hello and
welcome. We're so glad you're here with us. We are going to have
a really fun interview. We are with Heather, somebody that
I met. And we became really, I mean, immediately I was like, oh, I definitely
(01:07):
want to hear more from her. So I met her in person one time and
then we talked on the phone and then just stayed in touch. So, Heather Cover.
Am I saying your last name right? Heather. Okay. Heather is
an author for Set Apart Girls magazine. She's written a couple
of devotional books. And more than that, let me just tell you what she said
when I asked for a bio. She's been married for 14 years. She is
(01:29):
eight wonderful children. She's a second generation homeschool mom.
And what I love that she said is I am learning and growing
alongside my kids, and I just love that attitude. I
think homeschooling is such a beautiful journey. And the fact that you're second generation,
I think we're gonna have a lot to talk about. So welcome, Heather. Thank
you. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm so honored.
(01:53):
I am so honored that you would come on, too. Well, let's just
jump first into talking about. We're gonna talk about one of the books that you
wrote. And it's kind of the. When I reached out to Heather, I asked her
to share with us a little bit about being countercultural and living
in a world that doesn't esteem family. And, you know,
a lot of the things that we choose to do as homeschoolers are very different
(02:15):
from what the world says. So and that seems like the title of your
book, your devotion. So will you tell us about that? And
I've drawn a blank on the name, but it was Morning Through
Meditations through the laundry basket. Is that right? Meditations from the
laundry basket. Okay, there you go. So can you tell us a little bit about
that? And then we'll dive into that conversation about living in a
(02:37):
countercultural world. Yeah. So
it is, in short, a
compilation of reflections that I've written over the years.
Reflections on things that the Lord had taught me through every day,
normal life, things that were
often brought about. And
(03:00):
I was pondering truths from the Word while I was
doing things in normal life. Whether it was something like caring for my
children, it was
folding baskets of laundry, doing dishes,
things that my hands were busy with while my mind had
time to chew on truths from God's word or
(03:23):
illustrations that he views through parenting or
other life situations that help me connect the dots
between, oh, this is this big picture spiritual truth
from His Word, and this is what it's looking like
lived out in my practical situation right
now. And I would put these short
(03:45):
devotional, like, reflections, and
I had some people say, this really resonated with me,
or this is sort of like a devotional. But my desire was to
have them in a place that people that other moms like me
would be able to go through for encouragement
if they needed a few minutes. Just from another mom
(04:07):
who is seeking to honor and glorify the Lord and what's right
in front of her. I love that I tell people all the time. I
love the story of Esther and the exhortation that her uncle
gives her that we are here for such a time as this and our
home is our first ministry. So your children and
I even just love the idea that what you just said, the way you phrased
(04:30):
it of, while my hands are busy, my mind is meditating on these
truths. And what did you say? How did you just say it was so good,
Heather, that this is me living that out. And it was
your hands in the laundry and in the dishes and in the changing
diapers and in the wiping noses. There's beauty in that.
But it is so countercultural. It is. Motherhood has been
(04:52):
sort of demeaned. And so let's talk about that, because I feel like
in the times that I've met you, you are a second generation homeschool mom,
but you. You're embracing this countercultural life. And
do you see yourself as doing that? Was that intentional? Do you or do you
feel the pressure of that? I mean, what does it mean to you to live
(05:12):
a countercultural life? That's a great question.
I think that ultimately it's
not. The goal is not to the ultimate goal
is not to live a countercultural life because there are a lot
of people who live differently,
but it's a reaction to something they're seeing that's wrong. But
(05:34):
then reactions we know often just swing the other direction.
The goal is to live a life that honors and glorifies God,
which will naturally be countercultural
in so many ways, because the world
prioritizes different things than God does. The world
measures success differently than God does. And so
(05:57):
we will end up living countercultural lives as we're
seeking to honor and glorify the Lord. And we have to be
ready for that because the messages that are bombarding us are
so strong, they can be so
influential in us, they can sway us so easily
(06:17):
that we have to be grounded in God's word, which
will help us to live counterculturally as
it is done unto the Lord. And there will.
It'll help us stand firm when we're getting pushback or when we feel
that even. Even unspoken pressure from the way
we see other people living. The ways we might interpret
(06:40):
other people's. You know, they're like,
oh, you're. You're a young man with eight children.
Yeah, exactly. The things that we can
even in our own minds can interpret, however, you know.
Right. As with our insecurities or whatnot,
that the way to truly live counterculturally as
(07:04):
glorifies the Lord is simply to be a Christian, to live
and to. To trust him and. And to obey him. You know, as the song
says, trust and obey, there's no other way.
I love it. I think in songs, too. So that was good. And I like
that you clarified that. Because the goal isn't just to be different. The goal is
to be a city on a hill, a light shining. Right,
(07:26):
exactly. And be really a walking testimony of who God is
and what he's asked us to do. So very good. Very good
point of clarification. I love that. So, Heather, will you.
Because I feel like we kind of skipped it, I think we should get to
know a little bit about you because you are a second generation homeschooler. So do
you want to just tell us a little bit about that and your testimony and
(07:48):
how that shaped your thinking today? Yeah,
I. The older I get, the
more grateful I become for the
upbringing that I had. Realizing that it's just not
common to have parents who
are just really committed to honoring the
(08:10):
Lord in everything. And this even goes back to the bigger picture of,
like, they didn't set out to just be different.
Their desire all along the way through my growing up
years was to, to
glorify the Lord in the decisions that they made.
And one of those things that they felt like the Lord was
(08:33):
leading them in was homeschooling
because of their big picture idea of
education and understanding that education is not just
checking off arbitrary goals that
someone out there has set as far as this is what a good education is,
but really going back to scripture to say, what does God ask of
(08:56):
parents to train their children? It's in the
fear and admonition of the Lord. It's, it's as you're walking and
sleeping and, you know, eating and, you know, it's, it's really
holistic. And so that was part of their
decision in that time as they were
evaluating that, to say, I think this is going to help us accomplish that
(09:18):
the best at, you know, with the life circumstances. Other
ways that I saw that lived out were I
grew up overseas. And again, it wasn't just to
be different. It was that they felt like this is what obedience to the
Lord looks like. And often I saw
they were often seen as contrarians
(09:41):
because their lives did look differently even
than other Christians sometimes. But their goal was
not just to simply be different or to be radical or to
cause reactions, but to honor the Lord. And the
result was that they got pushback from that. But I had the
benefit of seeing the blessing that comes
(10:04):
from choosing to live your life in a way
that is obedient to Christ and whatever that is. First, the big
picture calling of the things that
are laid out in scripture for all believers. The
just, the simple obedience things, the big
picture will of God for your life, and then
(10:27):
trusting him that he's going to lead you in the
specific details of your life that aren't like laid out in
Scripture. Now choose homeschooling for your children or whatever it
is. Have this many kids, all those sorts of things. You know,
today I read in my devotional First
Kings, chapter 13, and it was a story of a prophet who
(10:50):
went to Jeroboam to give him bad news,
basically. And the Lord told him before he went, don't stay
there and don't eat. I want you to give the news and leave. Totally
cageous. Paraphrase. Well, he. He listened to that commandment
with Jeroboam and then he left. And another prophet of God
came and said, hey, but God told me, you should come stay with me. And,
(11:12):
and he suffered the consequences of doing that. And it just. I've been pondering that.
I mean, granted it was this morning, but just thinking about what you just said,
like walking obedience to what God has asked you to do.
It's so easy to turn to the left or the right and go, well, what
are you doing? We're talking about not, we're not talking about
foundational things, we're talking about secondary things. Right. But those, the specific
(11:33):
callings of, like you said, where to live, what, what career to have,
how specifically you're educating your children. And it's really
refreshing I am hearing you say that, that you got to see your parents. And
I love how you started with that, that the older you are, the more you
appreciate that authentic faith is
such a testimony. I mean, if we do nothing but just live that way before
(11:55):
the world, it's such a great witness. So it
sounds like that really made a difference on you. Is that something you're very intentional
with in your homeschooling, like talking to your children about,
this is what God has asked us to do and this is how we bring
him glory or why or, you know, is that something you guys are
intentionally discussing as a family? Yes,
(12:15):
we. I really seek to do that, especially in those times that we
run into that I think every homeschool mom runs into. It's like, why do we
have to do this? You know, and sometimes when it
gets. I battle the same struggle, like this
is, this is a lot, you know, when you have a child who
can't grasp a math concept. When you have a
(12:37):
child who you hear, mom, the two year old just dumped a
box of Cheerios on the floor, you know, the. And everything is
just going crazy. And it's so tempting to be like,
is, am I, am I going to fail my kids
because I can't keep my attention where it needs to be. Am I? You know,
I'm so. It. It can be so easy to second
(12:59):
guess those things. But to, yeah, but
ultimately to from my own heart first,
the amount of times that I have said this is important
because we are learning for the glory of God.
These are things that, these are things that he
designed. Math was his idea. History
(13:21):
is telling about the things that have happened. It shows us not
just even starting from, you know, the history that we have in
God's word, but you can see that played out where this. We learn about
the things that have happened in the past because it's confirming to us
the ways that God is right when he says
there are consequences to sin. These are the results of what you know. But
(13:44):
there are also incredible
testimonies throughout history of the ways that people, when they trusted the Lord.
And, you know, this is so we can learn from those things. When we're looking
at science, it's where we want this to bring
us back to worship of who God is. And so I have to
discipline my own heart to remind my children
(14:06):
of that, rather than just being. Giving into my own emotions
in that moment or repenting. If I have. Often
that has come through saying, kids, I did not handle that situation
correctly. I got frustrated with the situation, too. But that's
another part that the Lord has encouraged me.
That is also part of their training.
(14:28):
And this is what we do. Like
godly people are the people who are
seeking the Lord. Yes, exactly. And it's a life of
repentance, you know, and I think there's.
There's a quote about that. You know, the life of a Christian is just one
of continual repentance and confessing and saying,
(14:49):
I'm gonna realign myself with what God says. And so
that is how we have sought to.
To do it. Just. I've. I just asked the Lord, help me to just be
sensitive to when to interject those things about the big
picture in the middle of the. You know, the
(15:09):
science and the Cheerios on the floor. Yes,
yes. In the mundane, I think that's what happens to a lot of
families, even new homeschoolers. This is what I see happen
quite a bit. They start out and they're nervous, and then they overcome their fear.
They get going. And then the reality of Cheerios on the
floor and dishes piling up and kids fighting or
(15:31):
those little things, they. They tend to come in like the little
foxes that seal the vines. It's like they're just coming to seal the joy and
distract. And what I'm hearing you say is you're talking to
yourself, just like we see in the Bible. Right. When David does that, it's like,
self, oh, so why are you cast down? Like, it is a
spiritual battle, and it requires some discipline that we just keep taking our
(15:52):
thoughts captive. And so I know a little something that we haven't
revealed to the leaders yet. You have a couple of babies in the NICU
right now. You shared a story about the nurses in the hospital,
and you do have twins in the nicu. So
how are you? It sounds like you're living out a life that
even the nurses are making a comment on. So can you tell us that story
(16:14):
that you shared with me? And let's talk about that piece that passes all
understanding and where that's coming from. Yes.
Well, the story that I shared with you earlier Was
that one day, a couple weeks into this, it had been
a crazy situation. They came at 31 weeks and
it was a really difficult birth situation.
(16:37):
And so, you know, there's the scrambling to try to figure out, okay,
what's life going to look like for the next little while.
So a couple weeks into it, as we had just
talked and prayed through the details of it,
my mom was up here. My mom and my dad was coming up regularly,
too. Our church community had just started, like,
(17:00):
overwhelming us in the best possible ways with meals and support and
prayer and encouragement. And so we
truly felt as just
total peace that was guarding our hearts as we were just watching
the Lord provide for us in this. And so I come in and
the nurses are like, how are. How's everything at home? And
(17:22):
I said, actually, things are quite calm
and I'm so thankful. And her jaw
just about dropped to the floor. And she said,
we never hear that. And I
knew from that as well as other comments.
(17:42):
Obviously when people come in, they're like, so these are your first kids? And I'm
like, no, they're actually my seventh and eighth. And some people still
think I'm in high school because I look so young. So they're trying to figure
out, like, how is this possible? I can tell they're
like, really thrown off by so many things. But
the amount of times that I've been able to testify of,
(18:05):
either either overtly or
just by sharing the difference, you know, in it sort of a
big picture way, that of testifying to
God's grace in the middle of something like this
has just been so strengthening to my own faith
to see that we truly live God, God is true
(18:29):
to his word that when we
trust him in our weaknesses, like it says in. You know, Paul talks about his
thorn in the flesh, you know, my. And then God says, my grace is sufficient
for you. My power is made perfect through weak in weakness.
And just the simple obedience to me, like
he's been hammering to me, almost like
(18:51):
it's life and death that you give thanks. You know this.
You must discipline yourself to give thanks. Because
what I've discovered is it's brought me back into alignment with that
as I'm. Or even in Philippians where it says, be
anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then the
(19:13):
peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your
mind in him. So give thanks, cast every care on him.
He's brought me back again. And again to the basic
obedience. And he's like, trust me. That
then I've thought about. You referenced this verse earlier about
(19:33):
our lives being lights, about being the city on the hill
that. And then it says that they may see that. Right.
And then glorify your. Yes. And the amount of times that
like we're going back to this, like, we never hear that.
I thought they don't know it, but they are glorifying God
(19:54):
because they are seeing that he's being faithful
to His Word as we're just submitting ourselves to
Him. So I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel the
overwhelm of this season because it's truly an
intense thing to walk through. And it was so new and there
have been buckets of tears. But what I have
(20:16):
noticed is that it's not that those feelings don't come. It's that
obedience to the Lord gives you what you need to know how to navigate
them. And that his grace is stronger than. Yeah. So
that's. It's been, it's been a huge faith building
experience. Wow. I love it. Because,
you know, when you think about your life, it is usually not the
(20:38):
mountaintop and the great experiences where we do the most growth in our walk with
the Lord, it is in the valleys when we're going through something hard. And the
way you phrase that, like, be thankful, like,
that's the striving part, which is so funny in that sense. Striving
part is really just a submission. Right. There's a freedom. He's the
one who gets the glory. And, and just to reiterate, because I can imagine
(21:00):
there's some women listening going, I am not like that. I lose my
temper and I. And I just hope that they heard that part and don't let
the enemy rip them off. That when we make a mistake and when we
blow it and when there isn't a piece and we're not a really good testimony.
God's mercies are new every morning. And a righteous man falls seven times and gets
back up again. And that is a lesson to our children because that's
(21:21):
walking with the Lord. That's the sanctification process. Right,
Exactly. And through this time, I have had
many times, even again, going back to all this going the same
direction that I heard someone say recently that
even the, like, God will. God will gain the glory
through our. Through the things we do well, but then through the things we
(21:44):
don't do well. And the amount of times that I've been
snappy that I'VE been, you know, that I haven't handled things rightly, that I've
felt so discouraged because my focus wasn't right.
You know, it's just that, though, that has happened over
and over again. And yet it's the Lord's grace
that so often he's like, no, don't stay there. Don't stay there. Just
(22:07):
look back to me. Because that's where the. That's where the grace and
strength is going to come. The amount of times I've had to say I'm
sorry. Sorry to my husband or to my children for not, you
know, for being. Just feeling it.
And yes, they. That is
totally part of reality. And I've.
(22:30):
Yeah. I've been currently reading back through Genesis
recently and thinking a lot about the life of Abraham
and the fact that he did. There are times when he was just like,
obeying that there was no sense of question, no sense of, you know,
then other times where he's like, I should probably say
that Sarah. Yeah. Is my sister. So that, you know, and you're like
(22:52):
that. But that is. And yet in Hebrews we see that it says, you
know, by faith, you know, so that God was over
those things and he helped
Abraham to repent of those things. And it
was, it was. Those things were counted to him as
righteousness, that faith. But
(23:15):
it was all the Lord who was doing it, and he was using even
those things that were.
That he shouldn't have done to point back to himself.
And so that would be my encouragement to moms that I'm
right there with you, that I can testify to this. But it's
also largely because I've seen my own weakness in it, too,
(23:38):
that his grace is so much greater than that. I love it.
We maybe already kind of covered this or answered it, but maybe let's, let's
unpack it a little bit more. Children having children Now I only have two children,
so if you don't have eight children, don't, you know, walk in condemnation there? But
one children. One child. One children. One child or eight children
or 20. I do know people who have 20 through
(24:00):
adoption, but I, I think
the world looks at that as a burden and a sacrifice. And.
But you. You demonstrate completely and opposite mentality. So
tell us about that. Why. And you know, how do you. Is this
a mission, a personal mission for you? Like, are you and your husband, like, we're
going to have as many kids, like, you're. It's a goal or you're just trusting
(24:21):
the Lord? Unpack that for me. Yeah. That's a great
question, and I love that you shared that. It's not. It doesn't really
ultimately have to do with how many kids you have. It's just
a heart disposition to
value what God values. I have
dear friends who, you know, in our community, who the
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Lord has not given them children, and yet they
love kids. They are loving families,
and they are the way that they. It's a heart
disposition first and foremost. And I think for
my husband and I, it's always been a desire to
look at scripture and say, God says that children are
(25:07):
a blessing. Going back to Abraham, it was just something that
I thought was so interesting. I hadn't caught before that. The first. I believe it's
the first time that God says, I'm gonna bless you and I'm gonna give you
this just abundance. And he says, what does that matter
if I don't have kids? He's basically this like. And that again,
that's the Heather paraphrase. But like, there was something
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interesting in that. Like, his heart disposition was like,
children are a blessing. And, you know, so it was
interesting because God had a plan in that, right? That was before he had any
kids. You know, he. But you could tell his heart disposition all along
was, you know, I just. I want to glorify the
Lord. But then also the disposition was children
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are a blessing. And so regardless of how many
we have, what that looks like, God knows that we just
entrust that to the Lord for how. What
our specific family situations, what wisdom looks like
along with the, you know, that disposition. Those are things
that are between each family, husband and wife and the
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Lord. But often when
there's the ability to do that, you will see people who have
that mentality welcome a greater than average amount
of kids who are, you know, in the. Often you do see that.
But again, it's not the number that's specific, but our.
(26:34):
When I, when I was. We got married young, we got married at
19. And it wasn't again,
going back to the, you know, the idea of being countercultural.
It wasn't that we just wanted to have a bunch of kids because it's
different than the world. You know, we did both. I grew up in a big
family. I'm one of eight kids. My
(26:56):
husband grew up as one of four kids. But we.
And we both. And his family, his
parents wanted a lot of children, but the Lord gave them four.
And still, even in today, that's still. More than a big
family compared to the normal today. So
for us, it was just, you know, as we were looking at
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our lives and what the Lord wanted for us. We just felt
like, you know, in these young years, even though both of us are very, you
know, I have things I love to do. I'm sort of an entrepreneurial
type of person, but I really felt like
I need to be ready to welcome children and invest
in another generation as the Lord sees fit to give them. Part
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of my story was that I, you know, because I always wanted to be a
mom. But early on in our marriage, we thought it,
as I was experiencing some health issues that I've had
for a long time, there was the. It was sort of
put out there that it might not be possible for me to have children.
So I had to really wrestle over that and, you know,
(28:05):
surrender that to the Lord. Like, if this is not part of my story
to have biological children, I'm just going to have to trust you with that.
And he saw fit to give many children, but.
But for me, there was just the desire to welcome children as the
Lord would give them and raise a generation, whatever he would give
(28:25):
us. In the fear and admonition of the Lord, knowing that he
says in his word, that is important, that
is a priority. And so that is really how
we framed it, you know, in our. Talked about it
with each other, is just knowing that a
(28:46):
godly family, raising a family to love the Lord
is an incredible thing. The Lord says that this is important.
And so that's what our desire is, to have his heart
for family. I love it. It's so good. How old is your oldest?
He's 12. Okay. Pretty even. Stair
(29:07):
steps around two years. Yeah. I was wondering,
because 14 years married and eight bringing in
the twins, obviously that would be like every other year it seemed like. Yeah.
Wow. Well, I love it. Ah, beautiful. Well, as we are
wrapping up our time together, you. You wrote a book. You
wrote a devotional about. Again, we talked about it. Meditations from the Laundry
(29:30):
Basket. What would you say are some of the key truths about God and
scriptures that you just cling to and rely on so that you can
endure in peace when. When life is crazy or so that
you can, you know, take your thoughts captive as you're washing dishes, folding laundry,
picking up Cheerios, et cetera? Right. One is Galatians
6, 9. And let us not grow weary of doing good for induced season we'll
(29:53):
reap if we do not give up. And it was several years ago, as
I was thinking about the amount of time and investment that goes into
honoring the Lord, seeking to honor the Lord in raising Your children
in investing in your home, in showing hospitality,
(30:13):
whatever it might be that looks like obedience in that season. Often
those things are not immediate gratification.
They are long term investments that you begin to see over time. And I
remember thinking, this is sort of like planting seeds. It's like
gardening. You're planting all these seeds and the fruit does not show up the
next day. It takes time. You see evidence of growth.
(30:36):
You know, after a few, few days, a couple weeks, you might start
seeing those little green sprouts and you know, but the
fruition of that, the fruit, the blossoms, those take
time. And so for me, Galatians 6,
9 has been, this is, I'm going to plant a seed and then I'm going
to walk by faith. This is the Lord requires us to like
(30:58):
when we don't see the results of our obedience right away, to trust that he
has the bigger picture in mind. And this is also an etern eternal
vision. He says that part of obedience is storing up
treasures in heaven. So we're not judging
success based on the world's definition of success
or that what we see outwardly, we're trusting that the Lord
(31:20):
knows what he's doing. And he's saying, keep your eyes on me. Keep. Again,
if you go back to Hebrews where it says, you know, looking
to Jesus, right? Like, run the race with perseverance, looking to
Jesus, like, that's ahead. There's a. And. And so
for me it's been like this. This is not just for here and
now, because that gets really discouraging. It's for,
(31:42):
it's for. This is, this is for eternity. This is
for the sake of what's ahead. And so I cannot grow weary of what's today.
And then there's the amount of times that he has flooded me with
encouragement, whether it's through a friend, whether it's through His
Word, whether, you know, just. Even my
(32:03):
children, my husband, where he's brought the encouragement at just the
right time to say, this is, this is worthwhile, keep going,
keep being faithful. That's so good. And I just want
to make sure that we also remind ourselves that this is God's work. We
are called to be obedient. And the results of those seeds are
His Right? That's exactly right. Because I think it's really
(32:25):
easy to fall into this like, formulaic idea that this is what I'm gonna do
and all my children to be perfect and your children are gonna be centered, who
also have to figure out how to walk with the Lord of their Own accord
too. Right. And we just get to show them the way.
Exactly. Yes. Because that is going to be
a temptation for us. Even the fruit. We think we're going to do this,
(32:48):
our kids are going to respond this way. And so often that's not
the case against the long term goal. And realizing the amount of times
that I have said to the Lord,
I have to trust you because I know that in and of
myself I do not have what it takes to obey.
And so being reminded that it is his power that is at
(33:11):
work. My obedience is like the loaves and fish
that were that the little boy gave and God
was the one who multiplied it. We are called to obey in
faith, but it's so it's not adequate
for what God desires to do. But God can take it and do whatever he
wants with it. And it might look completely different than we think. The
(33:33):
outcome often does not look like what we think it's going
to look like. And praise the Lord, he knows more than we do because it's
always better, right? Infinitely better. He's so good. Infinitely. Yes.
Well, Heather, you have been a delight. It's been really good. We're going to wrap
up. We ask all of our guests when they come on. I didn't prep you
for this one. What is one? Homeschooling. Since we. We didn't
(33:55):
really talk a whole lot about homeschooling, but I think the heart of discipleship really
is homeschooling. Anyways, the. The tip
that you would give somebody that you would say is the best that you got
from homeschool perspective. One of the best and most
encouraging pieces of advice that I have received from older
homeschool moms. I remember specifically when one mom here in
(34:16):
our community who's raised children and as she shared
one time, that
we cannot teach our children everything. But
the biggest thing to do is prepare your kids to learn how to
learn so that you can.
You're setting a foundation and then you're teaching
(34:38):
them how to learn so that they can learn on their own too.
Because you can't do everything. And so keeping that
in mind has been really helpful for me. That is so good.
It also really ties in with what we were talking about. Right. We're demonstrating
to our kids how to live and then they ultimately are going to do it.
That's the success of education we're looking for. Right. So, Heather, thank
(35:00):
you. This has been so good. We're going to post in the show notes how
people can connect and find your book and hopefully
get it so thank you. This has been a delight. We really appreciate you being
here and thanks everybody for being here.
Thank you so much for joining us today. The Colorado Homeschool
Podcast is a ministry of Christian Home Educators of Colorado.
(35:22):
We have been motivating parents to disciple the next generation
by embracing home discipleship that is Christ centered, parent
directed, and free from government control. We invite you to join us in
this mission. If you want to support homeschooling in Colorado, go to
check.org donate in the meantime, share this with
your friends and make sure you subscribe. That really helps us. Thank you.
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